Beast Tamer Online-The Black Beasts
by CathyX1
Summary: What if Sword Art Online never existed and the first ever VRMMO was one where players fought and tamed beasts. Enter the world of the all–new death game: Beast Tamer Online! (Main character is still Kirito)
1. Prologue

**AN: Ok… finally the first chapter! This is just an intro to BTO... Plz tell me if this world is interesting coz I originally wanted to write about SAO or GGO but couldn't think of any original ideas… :P I'll probably write longer chapters next time.**

**Enjoy! And please R&R!**

_The virtual world was made up of a huge expanse of colours._

_The forests covered the ground completely, fading into orange-coloured sand dunes that constantly moved, giving the impression of a twitching jaw. The eyes- the mountains- were ragged and stretched far into the sky, piercing the clouds above. They were bordered by a thin line of blue, which were rivers and already more than a kilometre wide. The rippling water shone in the sunlight and glittered. _

_But, the most impressive feature of all was the nose, a huge gaping hole in the centre of the head. The sheer scale of it was in itself amazing, ranging from ten to twenty kilometres wide and thirty kilometres long. The bordering cliffs dropped instantly and the inside was engulfed in darkness, ruled by wild beasts and monsters. It was divided into a hundred layers that were connected only by stairs but when a level's boss is defeated and the floor is cleared, Teleport Gates would connect to it and all players can move around the cleared floors freely. A long bridge, five kilometres long, stretched over the darkness. It led to the Portalwhich stood at the end and would teleport players into the floor of their choice. _

_There were also small towns scattered here and there so some players preferred to live in the depths of the crater._

_The main landmass, which was fifty kilometres from ear to ear and sixty kilometres long, was an island at the centre of a deep-blue ocean. Other small islands dotted around its southern seas. All this was framed with a thick mist curling from the sky. The area resembled a crying skull floating in a pool of tears. There was no telling how much data it all consisted of. Its name was-_

_Schädella_

**Prologue**

_31 October 2022_

"Kraghhhh!" The bird-like beast screeched as it shattered into thousands of polygons. Kirito swung his longsword left and right before sheathing it in the sheath on his back. A black dragon stood by his side, her head reaching his chest. She was his 'pet' and would continue growing as he levelled up. In BTO, as long as the player's level was high enough, it was possible to tame any beast, except for bosses, for a pet but Kirito only had the one he was given at the start of the game. He preferred to focus on levelling up and clearing floors.

Like all the other players, he was given the option to choose a free pet when he was registering for BTO, though he could also have just remained by himself.

There were three types to choose from: Healers, Fighters and Helpers.

As the name suggests, 'Healers' heal the player. The amount of HP they can give depends on their level and how much MP they have.

'Fighters' fight against monsters with the player but only participate in duels with other pets.

The 'Helpers' would assist a player if they had a manufacturing or trade-type skill and needed an extra pair of hands. They also increased the player's main skill by two percent.

Kirito liked the idea of fighting with a virtual animal and chose a 'fighter'. The black dragon was randomly selected by the system and he named her _Luna _after its round, moon-like eyes and dark body. There was a small circle with a cross in the centre marked on its scaled arm. Every pet has some sort of mark on their body.

They shared the same HP bar and stats and fought together in battle.

Luna blinked at the disappearing shards and swiped at them playfully. For the third time that day, she reminded him of a curious child.

He smiled. He usually distanced himself from everyone around him but Luna had been a great friend as well as a partner and he felt a stab of numbness in his chest when he remembered that it would be their last time together.

It was the last day of the beta testing and after that day, all the data- stats, money and pets he had gathered till then would be erased.

Kirito had just made it to the ninth underground floor of Haze, a crater in the centre of Schädella. It had one hundred layers going down where players could fight high-levelled monsters the deeper they went. The Grand Quest was to clear all the floors by beating the bosses guarding the staircases and reach the bottom. He was currently in a stone cave on the east-most side. The monsters there were all quite tough to kill but Kirito was one of the highest level players among the beta testers and, with Luna,managed to beat the last two beasts while only losing a little under twenty percent of their HP.

He had occupied one of his Skill Slots with night-vision and had equipped it as soon as he entered the cave. The skill did allow him to see in the dark but only showed his surroundings in an eerie glow, though it did make it easier when there was something or someone near.

Just as he thought that, he noticed a slight flicker to his left. Slowly turning, he unsheathed his sword and signalled for Luna to pay attention. His body tensed, and his eyes darted around. After a few silent seconds, the enemies appeared. Kirito furrowed his eyebrows. It was a mob consisting of six catmen. Even with Luna, it would be a tough fight.

The first to emerge suddenly attacked, while the others fanned out. The attacker covered the fifty metres between them in only a few seconds and lashed out with its left claws. Kirito had already predicted it and dodged before the attack motion even started. The monster hissed and trained its bright yellow eyes toward him but was off-balance. Luna used this opportunity to strike. She roared and raised her razor sharp claws. They glowed purple as her AI timed her attack. She used a three-hit combo: Execution as she clawed an 'X' shape onto the catman's stomach and brought its neck down with a swipe of her tail. The monster's HP decreased by more than half, almost reaching the red area. Without wasting any time, Kirito then landed five consecutive hits cleanly on the monster's fallen figure.

There were Sword Skills in BTO but abilities players had in real life sometimes affected a player's ability ingame, though the difference becomes less noticeable as everyone levelled up. Technically, Kirito was at a high enough level to have a five-hit combo in his skill slot but he had drilled the move many times and did not need to use the system to execute it. Players could also gain ability points by levelling up which allows them to use better moves. As Kirito had high STR and AGI stats ingame, even without the system's help, the monster's body flew up into the air from his blows. He finished it by bringing his sword down and slicing the beast in half. By then, the five other monsters had closed in and two were already dashing forward.

Even though Kirito knew it was only a 3D virtual monster charging toward him, he had to take a deep 'breath' as he pushed off with his left foot. He met them head on and, as his sword glowed, slashed all the way from right to left, dragging it through their chests while their claws grazed his arm. It reduced about fifteen and five percent of their HP respectively.

'Switch!' He yelled, falling back as Luna lunged forward and breathed a torrent of blue flames. This was more effective. It was called Hell Fire, an attack that dealt a large amount of damage to most types of monsters and steadily caused the victim's HP to decrease. She had mastered it a week ago and had proved to be very useful against monsters in dark places. Unfortunately, it cost a lot of MP so, with their current level, could only be used once without using a crystal. The catmen yowled as they were engulfed in the flames and the one who had taken the direct hit shattered instantly. It was replaced by two others and the last one tried to land a sneak attack from behind. While Luna dealt the finishing blow to the catman who was still on fire, Kirito turned around and blocked the attacking monster with his longsword. The clash between its claws and his blade made a deafening _Clang_. Both their attacks were bounced off and only scratched each other, decreasing their HP slightly. The monster tried to recover as soon as he realised that that first slash was only a starting move but Kirito was already swinging his sword left to continue with his four-hit combo-Horizontal Square. The monster could only screech as his HP rapidly decreased. After making the last cut, Kirito immediately swung around and dashed forward to help Luna as the monster shattered behind him.

'Seeii!' He yelled as his sword glowed red and cut down the one about to attack with a thrust and left slash. Now there was only one enemy left. Its HP bar was still green while Kirito's and Luna's had almost reached the dangerous red zone. If they took another hit, they would die and be reborn back at Starting Plains while losing one tenth of their experience points and a third of their items.

Smugly, the catman advanced and stretched out both paws in preparation of its slashing attack. It brought them down just as its AI suddenly realised that it was strange that Kirito was not moving.

_Too late_

The catman let out a high-pitched scream as it was pierced by the dragon's attack. It was one of the first attacks she had learnt but she didn't bother mastering it at first since it took a relatively long time to charge. Even now, the skill was a little rusty and was rarely used. The damage it inflicted was high though and Kirito had just provided her with a chance. She flapped her wings twice and, on the third flap, sharp, black crystals detached themselves from the scales around her shoulder blades and shot toward the enemy. It was the dragon skill Scale Rain. The majority of them hit the catman's back and with a startled yowl, it shattered.

The cave's eerie atmosphere returned as a window popped up, showing Kirito the amount of EXP points, Col and items he had earned.

Patting Luna's head gently with his left hand, Kirito sheathed his sword and used a blue HP crystal to restore their health. He then opened his own window. His pet peered over his shoulder curiously. There weren't many extra items considering that there were six enemies. In fact there was only one.

'…saddle…' He muttered.

_Saddle…_

He looked at his pet and grinned.

* * *

The last few hours with Luna, they spent in the sky, soaring above the clouds. The saddle ability allowed Kirito to ride on her back as she flew. It felt truly exhilarating; speeding through the sky and flying above the island. The virtual wind brushed past his face and he breathed in the fresh scent of the air. He was just starting to get drowsy when-

'Whoah!' He shouted as Luna suddenly dived, a deep purr rising from her throat. If he didn't know better, he would've sworn he just heard the laugh of a little girl coming from her mouth.

_Don't you dare fall asleep._

'I wasn't going to fall asleep!' He exclaimed but she responded with a snort of disbelief.

_Oh really? But you'd better stay awake to see this. _She seemed to say as she glided under the clouds.

Kirito gasped at the view. The whole of Schädella lay under him-The Forbidden Forest, the ocean, the Island of the Wandering…

And Haze…the gaping hole in the centre looked truly frightening as if it could swallow up anything and everything. He felt Luna shiver slightly.

From his position, the stone bridge stretched out over the crater and seemed to be suspended in mid-air. At the tip was the Portal that had transferred him to floor seven, the deepest accessible floor after three months. It glowed faintly as a few players teleported back to the surface with their tamed beasts following behind them. Kirito looked at the group. He had never understood what friends were.

Or perhaps he did, but had forgotten.

Luna whistled lightly and he shook away his unhappy thoughts. They circled around in the sky for a bit longer. The sky was already very dark and a full moon shone through a thick layer of mist. He opened his menu and checked the time-

22:59:59. the numbers flashed.

23:00:00

At midnight, the beta testing would end and all the players still in BTO would be automatically logged out.

Kirito wondered what they should do for the last sixty minutes but it seemed that Luna had already planned it for him. She nudged his back and squawked.

_Ne…lets go to that yummy-looking restaurant! _Her stomach growled.

Kirito grinned and rubbed her head.

'Why not? We may as well spend the money while we still have it.' He said as his stomach also growled.

He saw Luna try to raise her scaly eyebrow.

_Isn't it because you're hungry?_


	2. Chapter 1 The Start

**AN: I know I said I would write a longer chapter but this chapter is ESSENTIAL and is basically just leading on to the main story so bear with me… This chapter is based on what happens in SAO (which I DO NOT own) except I changed it a bit :P**

**Please R&R!**

* * *

_The boy listened to the seconds ticking away and lowered the NerveGear onto his head._

_12:59:58_

_12:59:59_

_He took a deep breath._

_13:00:00_

'_Link Start!'_

**Chapter 1-The Start**

_2 November 2022_

'I'm back.' Kirito whispered as the green light around him faded away, leaving him in the central plaza of Starting Plains. Opening his eyes, he felt alive -more than he would ever feel in the real world. Other players were appearing one after another and soon, the plaza was full of different 3D avatars' excited mumbling. All of the ones he could see had pets at their side and his smile faltered for a moment. … He thought back to Luna, who had been his previous and only pet.

_Be safe._

Despite her being just another virtual object made from digital code, that was what he had said to her. It was quite amusing really. He could make friends with virtual things but couldn't get close to real people. Laughing quietly and ignoring the glances directed at him, he made his way through the crowd. When he reached the paved streets of Starting City, he turned right and, without hesitation, walked toward an alleyway that he knew would lead him to a large herd of low-level beasts. Striding purposefully, He reached out with his hand as if to pat something but it closed over thin air. Clenching it into a fist, he pulled it back again and ran full-speed down the narrow street.

* * *

Starting Plains was located on the outskirts of Starting City near what was called the 'Left eye', a tall mountain where high-levelled monsters liked to build their nests. The mountain was completely surrounded by the 'Left Moat'. That, then, was bordered by a small forest called 'the Forest of Advancement' which stretched all the way down to the southern deserts and then back up to the 'Right Eye'. Kirito went through part of Starting City and two kilometres north-west to reach a flat grassland where the forest was just visible. Since it was far enough from town for the noise not to reach it, many monsters that were not high-level enough to survive in the forest liked to roam around this area.

Unsurprisingly, he was the only one standing in the green grass. He stayed there for a while and allowed himself to enjoy the freshness of the air before unsheathing his sword and walking slowly forward. He was completely surrounded by tall, knee-high grass. There was not a tree in sight, and therefore nothing for larger beasts or him to hide behind. To leave, players would have to continuously cut down groups of monsters until they reach Starting City or any other nearby towns. It was a beginner training ground suited for groups and players used to close-range battles.

Almost immediately as he started moving, he saw a grey, bull-like beast coming charging at him with its horns lowered. He dodged nimbly to one side and used a simple Uppercut and thrust to finish it. In his peripheral vision, he saw the EXP on his window increase. As he continuously cut down the beasts, all other thoughts were blocked from his mind. All he felt was the exhilarating sensation of having power in his hands. He was immersed in his own world until a wild birdsong woke him from his 'trance'. He sighed and reminded himself that he could take it easier and not just slash at anything in sight. Nodding to himself, he swung his sword left and right and was about to sheath it when he heard a sharp scream and a series of swear words coming from a few hundred metres to his left. Seeing as he had nothing better to do, he decided to check it out. Slowly pushing through the long grass, he walked toward the source of the noise. The clash of a battle was unmistakeable now so he quickened his footsteps-

And almost fell forward as the long grass suddenly opened up into a clearing. That area was definitely not there during the beta-testing and he wondered briefly if there were other changes in the game. However, the thought was immediately forgotten as he dodged a sword that buried itself in the ground where his foot was before.

'S-sorry' He heard a female voice stutter. The voice belonged to a girl with wavy brown hair. Although he knew that many players were playing with an avatar of the opposite gender, the avatar's nervousness-and screams-was unmistakeably that of a girl's. He didn't have time to think further before the girl grabbed her weapon and squealed again as a boar came charging toward her. Without thinking, he pushed her to one side, forgetting that he was right behind her. The boar kept closing the distance.

Sighing, Kirito crouched and sprung forward as his sword glowed red. He used a simple sword skill-Horizontal and sliced through the whole length of the charging boar. It growled mournfully as it shattered into countless polygons.

Other than the girl who had almost amputated his foot, and the boy he had heard swear before, there were three more players circling around a small group of three boars-though they seemed to be having a hard time with it. Their HP bars were already in the yellow zone even with their pets healing them constantly.

After Kirito got rid of the boar, the girl smiled and went to help the others. They glanced in his direction gratefully before turning back and continuously stabbing and swiping at the beasts with their weapons. Kirito thought that their strategy was horrible and tried to decide if he should help or not when one of them dealt a blow to a boar's neck, decreasing its HP to zero. It shattered and the others followed not long afterwards, the shards floating momentarily before fading into nothingness.

He didn't want to be in any complicated situations and was about to walk away when he heard someone call out.

'Hey!'

He sighed for the second time in the last ten minutes and reluctantly turned around.

* * *

The six people and five pets sat around the table.

'…Thankyou to Kirito who saved us back then!' The leader of 'the Black Cats of the Full Moon', Keita said enthusiastically as he held up his cup.

'Kanpeii!'

Kirito stood awkwardly at the table holding his lemonade as the pets meowed loudly in celebration.

'You know, I didn't really do anything…'

Keita shook his head solemnly.

'Don't be so modest!' He grabbed the shoulders of the only girl in the group and swivelled her around to face him, 'If you didn't get rid of that monster, Sachi would probably have been killed. Instantly.'

The girl who was known as Sachi stopped eating her sundae and pouted.

'I'm not that weak! I was only supposed to be providing back-up anyway. And plus, you guys only caught on the way to use Skills after Kirito-kun demonstrated, right?'

Keita shrugged and grinned, turning back to Kirito,

'See? You ARE our saviour!' The other four and their pets nodded their agreement and Kirito allowed a small smile to escape his lips. He hadn't met such lively people since… a long time ago.

'You finally smiled! Anyways, drink something! Sachi's treating!'

The girl elbowed him in the ribs.

'Ok, ok! We're- us five- our guild- is treating.'

The guild members rolled their eyes and he pretended to have a troubled expression on his face. Then, everyone laughed. The heavy atmosphere around Kirito lightened and he laughed along with them.

'Well… If you ins-'

A ringing sound interrupted their celebration. The six of them glanced around questioningly before, one by one, they were engulfed by green light.

* * *

Kirito felt the familiar sensation of his stomach dropping as the image of the tavern room disappeared and was temporarily replaced by a swirl of colours. Almost instantly afterwards, he found himself in the midst of thousands of people. Green light covered his vision so it took him a moment to realise he was on Starting Plains' central plaza. Other players and their pets appeared around him cluster by cluster, just like when the game first started that afternoon.

It was still 5:20pm back in Tokyo and BTO was synced with the real time but the clouds covering the sky caused the plaza to be shadowed by darkness. Shivering, he spotted Sachi's brown hair and pushed his way through the crowd.

'Sachi!'

Hearing her name being called, she turned around and, seeing Kirito hurry toward her, pushed through the crowd with her pet in tow. They were both breathing heavily by the time they reached each other.

'H-Have-you… seen the others?' She asked hopefully.

He shook his head but tried to smile reassuringly.

'Don't worry, It look like all players were teleported here so they'll be somewhere on this plaza.'

Sachi still looked worried.

'But-' she stopped abruptly as Kirito placed a hand gently on her head. She blushed slightly and changed her sentence. 'Why…why? I mean, is there a purpose for us being here?'

Not seeing her reaction, Kirito continued patting her head lightly.

'I think we'll soon find out.' He answered, looked up into the sky. As if his words were some sort spell, the moment they left his lips, a silver panel appeared directly above central plaza. It flashed and then numerous other panels spanned over them in a dome shape. Loud exclamations echoed, bouncing off the panels. In a few seconds, the plaza was completely covered by it, the patterns on the panels seemed to solidify and the players saw that they were in a large cage though the bars looked like a person could fit through them. They were clearly wrong, however, as there was some kind invisible barrier between the bars which stopped all attempts to escape.

The volume of noise in the cage increased so that everyone had to shout to be heard. Despite this, a single word attracted everyone's attention.

'Look!'

Everyone's head automatically shot up to look at the top-most tip of the cage.

Above their heads, the bars seemed to melt, dripping down and forming a huge green cloak. A pair of gloved hands, no…there wasn't anything wearing them, spread out before it. Two red lights shone from the interior of the hood and glowed ominously. Other than that, the cloak was empty. Silence fell over the crowd as they waited.

A deep voice was projected over the whole plaza. No one expected what was coming next.

* * *

Kirito and the members of Keita's guild stood in a deserted alleyway a few minutes from the plaza. They were no longer playing using their avatars; they were a virtual version of themselves in the real world.

Looking once again at her window's menu, Sachi's hand trembled over where the 'Log-Out' option should have been and whimpered.

'It's really not there…'

Keita placed an arm around her shoulder and squeezed it slightly. He paused, as if putting his thoughts together, before asking in a fake cheerful voice.

'Do you want to come with us?'

Kirito didn't reply. Rather, he didn't know how to reply.

_Nicely? Bluntly? Should I severe our friendship? Is what we have called 'friendship' anyway? _

He closed his eyes.

After a few minutes, he finally had the courage to open his mouth though he was too scared to open his eyes.

'Sorry.' He said softly.

The guild's leader smiled sadly and his pet curled around his leg as if to comfort him.

'It's fine. I understand.'

Just like that, both parties turned around and left without the slightest noise. It was all too peaceful.

When Kirito opened his eyes and looked back, there was no one there anymore. It was just another empty alley.

He broke out into a run. Soon, Starting City was already a spot in the distance. He gritted his teeth and remembered the first words of the cloaked figure-Kayaba Akihiko's words and grimly added the unsaid phrase.

'Welcome to my world.'

_The world of death._

* * *

**AN: I'm sorry to everyone who wanted Luna in this chapter :(. I promise she'll appear in later chapters in a different form maybe? (chuckles mysteriously). Anyway thanks for reading!**

**BTW Please go to my profile and vote in the poll on who to pair Kirito with! The story won't be focussed on romance but it's always good to have some:)**


	3. Chapter 2 Klein

**AN: Sorry for the super slow update! It's just that I have been extremely busy… At the moment, Asuna is leading in the poll for Kirito's pairing. People, vote for Yuuki, Sachi or Sinon!**

**R&R**

_What she saw out of her eyes was fear. _

_A boy jumps into the empty space,_

_A girl lying limply on the ground,_

_A maddening laugh,_

_In an instant, they all shattered._

**Chapter 2-Meeting**

_21 November 2022_

_Arrgghhhhhh…!_

Kirito gasped and his eyes opened as a scream pierced through his dreamless sleep. Momentarily, he could feel an indescribable sense of dread at the pit of his stomach. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead as the system ensured that he felt the correct sensation. Sitting up, he scanned the room quickly to see if there was anything off. There was none.

"What... was that…?" He asked himself softly.

He shivered. The sound had disappeared as soon as he woke up but what chilled him most was the obvious despair and madness in the cry, as if it were trapped in a room facing death… Or something even worse…

The voice had been strangely familiar too.

Kirito shook his head to clear his thoughts and went over to the window. Dragging the curtains aside, he saw that the sky had already started to get lighter with the sun just peeking over the 'Left Eye'. Closing the curtains, he opened his menu window to get dressed. His clothing a simple black jacket and black leather boots. He then equipped his weapon- a single-handed sword of relatively high-quality. Doing a final check on the room, he again didn't see anything out of place. Deciding to forget about it, he walked out swiftly. The door closed quietly behind him.

* * *

Less than three weeks into the Death Game, a thousand players had died, their cause of death etched into the _Players Stone_ at the centre of Starting City. It seemed that having a tenth of the gamers gone had motivated some, but still, the boss room hadn't been found yet. Even the beta testers like Kirito had no clue as to where it was. Clearing the first floor would be a glimmer of hope-a chance to get back to reality… and yet…

Kirito cut down the approaching monster with one slash and charged through the shattered pieces, swinging his sword in a wide arc. An additional three monster's cries were cut off when the deadly blade slit open their throats.

In his frenzy, he hadn't realised he had reached a different part of the cave until a startled yelp brought him back to reality. He faltered for a second when he saw a red-haired player sprawled on the floor before finishing off the last monster that was clawing at the fallen figure and sheathing his sword in the process. By that time, the other player had managed to get up and withdraw a crystal to restore his HP from his items. The player looked at him sheepishly. He had a bandanna over his hair, light, leather amour and a katana in a sheath on his side. He looked to be in his twenties.

'Thanks for helping. I got separated from my guild's members and somehow managed to get associated with…' He gestured at the disappearing blue shards. 'You really saved me. I'm Klein by the way.' He put out his hand.

'Kirito…' Kirito answered, taking his hand uncertainly. It was his only real contact with another player since… Sachi's group. The sense of guilt threatened to take over his senses once again. He had _abandoned _them.

'… so as I was saying… hey Kirito are you listening?' Seeing no reply, he waved his hand in front of Kirito's face. 'Hellooo? Anybody there?'

He blinked. 'Yeah…sorry.' This time it was his turn to look sheepish. 'Sorry… I didn't hear what you were saying.'

Klein sighed but the smile remained on his face. ' Geez.. at least listen when someone's inviting you to a meal!' Oh well…' He opened his menu window. 'I'll tell the others to meet with us…'

'Err…Ahem.' Kirito coughed.' I'm really sorry but…umm…. I don't think-'

He stopped when he saw Klein's excited face.

'What was that?'

Looking away, he forced a smile.

'Nothing.'

* * *

Kirito sat on the edge of the waterfall in Starting City and breathed in the virtual air. The whole time in the tavern had been a reminder to him about the time just before the announcement of the Death Game.

'You alright?' He jumped at the sudden voice. Klein smiled apologetically. 'Sorry. Did I scare you?'

'No. But I might be a bit drunk.' It was true. He felt woozy.

Klein laughed, stopped, and then sat down next to him. After a while, he said,

'It's really amazing how we can actually feel sensations like being drunk and sleepy and hungry.' He glanced sideways. 'We can't feel pain though.'

Kirito smiled grimly. 'At least not physically.'

Klein leaned back. 'Yeah.'

_Silence._

'Just then, there were people talking about the first floor boss room.'

'Yeah.'

'It was just after you went out.'

'Yeah.'

'They said something really interesting.'

'Yeah.

'…'

'What was it?'

'They found it, the boss room.'

Kirito turned around sharply.

'What?'

Klein grinned. 'I said: The boss room was found.

'When?'

'About two hours ago, they said. Apparently, there will be a meeting at The Steps tomorrow afternoon at one.'

Kirito turned back to the front, pondering about the new information. When he turned back, he was met with Klein's disappointed look.

'What?'

'I just thought that you would be more excited.'

'Oh.'

'Can't you at least act?'

'…Act…?

'Yeah. Like say 'Whoooppppeee!' or something.'

'…'

Klein looked at him expectantly.

'Whoopee.' Kirito said flatly.

…

'Forget it.'

* * *

The next morning, Kirito got up later than usual. He had spent the few hours lying in bed thinking about the boss room. The inn he was staying at was located near the edge of Starting City. It was near a deep ravine good for training and also close to The Steps where the meeting would be held later that day.

Despite the ravine being near the Left Moat, a river bordering the Left Eye, there didn't seem to be much water in it, just bare rocky cliffs. Only a small stream passed through the lowest parts. The only way to get down to the bottom was by flying or via a set of steep stone steps leading from one side to the bottom of the other side. There were not many players that started off with a flying pet and they were also hard to tame. The steps were quite risky as it almost didn't have any support in the middle. Even the different landings of the ravine were not connected to the steps. The sides of the cliffs were also dotted with cave entrances that led to towns and unexplored places. Most of the ravine was indestructible. Only the stairs could be damaged. If a part of it was destroyed, it would reappear again after a set amount of time depending on the damage. After a few cases of players falling to their deaths through the steps, it became one of the rarely-visited areas. It also became a place to show off, not that Kirito ever did, but because of this, he was surprised to see a lone figure surrounded by four wild beasts. The player had a long cloak with a hood that shadowed their face so he couldn't tell their gender. They didn't seem to have a pet either. The cloaked player had not taken out their weapon yet and he was too far away to see what it was, though he knew that it was a blade because of the sheath at their side. As the monsters closed in, Kirito automatically put his hand on the hilt of his sword and bent his knees in preparation to dash forward. No way was he going to let a person die in front of his eyes.

The next things happened very, very quickly. As he tensed his muscles, the player drew their blade with a lightning-like speed, cutting into the nearest monster through where the heart should be. A perfectly executed quick-draw… done without using the system. The other monsters also fell quite quickly using a combination of sword skills. As the last monster shattered, the player sheathed their sword. They tilted their head toward the right-the side that Kirito was on, and inspected the items they had gained, before walking deeper into the cave. It seemed that Kirito had not been noticed.

He looked at where the monsters had been.

_So there are solo players like that too… _thought the player that trains like that too.

Turning around, he muttered, 'Well…it has nothing to do with me.' And walked in the opposite direction.

**AN: ...**

**Why are the chapters getting shorter and shorter :'( I'm soooooo sorry! *Sniff sniff***

**Anyway, please review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Chapter three is up! This chapter is probably the most boring chapter in the world but please read it all the same… I've been having writer's block and just couldn't think of anything to write… Practically is the same to what actually happens except I changed it a little.**

**Chapter 3**

The players looked up at the huge doors before them and gulped.

_That door will lead to the boss! _

It was what everyone was thinking. They couldn't help but feel both excited and frightened at the same time.

'Make sure you all do the right thing.' Sigurd yelled over the crowd.

Kirito frowned. Yelling wasn't exactly the best thing to do in a monster-infested place and somehow his words weren't very encouraging. Most of the player either nodded or put their fist in the air.

'…'

He glanced at the cloaked girl next to him. As silent as usual. There was another girl beside her who was really small. Even compared to Kirito, which was…pretty hard to achieve. Klein and his guild members were standing ahead, being in a separate group. Ah… well, it couldn't be helped that the minimum number of players in a team was three…

_**The day before**_

_**-The Steps, Starting City 12:50pm**_

_Kirito arrived at The Steps ten minutes before the scheduled time. Like its name, there were large steps in a semicircle leading down to a circular court, kind of like a stadium except much more simple. There were already thirty-odd people with different pets there and he noticed that most were sitting in groups. Sighing, he walked towards the far end and sat near the back._

'_Yo!'_

_He turned around to see Klein and his guild members grinning down at him. There were five cats following them. He noticed Klein didn't have one with him._

'_Hi. And I was thinking that you weren't coming.'_

_Klein feigned an offended face._

'_Why would I do that?' He asked incredulously._

_But Kirito's gaze went past him to a cloaked figure a few metres away. It was the solo player from the ravine. _He… or she… came too? It seemed that the player really did not notice me that day… even though I wasn't even hiding…

'_Everyone!' He tore his gaze away when a loud voice sounded from below._

_An armour-clad man with a green cape, a snake wound around his neck, stood in the centre of the stadium and smiled._

'_I am Sigurd. Thank you for coming.' The man speaking had greenish hair and a handgun and sword on his side. There was also a larger rifle strapped to his back. 'As you probably already know, this is a strategic meeting to defeat the first-floor boss. The boss room was found yesterday night and, 'I'm sure we would all like to advance to the second floor as soon as possible.' He waited for the yells of consent to die down. 'The boss this time is a level 18 monster named 'Scyther: The Gatekeeper of Hell', four health bars, a mantis-like beast.' A few people in the audience whistled. _

'_It uses its forelegs to attack in cross-motions as well as individual slashes. It cannot, however, effectively use thrusts or stabs because of room space and its habit of standing upright. Its eyes can almost see what's happening immediately behind as well as what's in front of him at the same time but it can only attack on one side and its speed is supposed to be not so quick that… most of us can't handle it.' Kirito noticed a dark-haired girl frown._

'_Ten seconds before the boss appears, there will be five smaller beasts-'Belir-the Guards'. Like the boss, they look like bugs-beetles to be exact. They crawl on all fours, using their pincers to attack. After one is killed, it will re-spawn from the back of the room six times. Once the boss' last HP bar reaches the red zone, the hairs on the forelegs will become spikes and it will attack by sweeping them and bashing them around as well as cutting. Kind of like a spiked bat and a longsword combined. Before that, the hair doesn't do any damage. Unfortunately, it can also cause pets to become paralysed for a short while._

'…_Anyone who wants to leave, I won't stop you.'_

_No one spoke a word. Sigurd seemed to smirk, although he tried to hide it._

_Resuming his friendly smile, he said, 'Thank you! Well, that's some information about the boss. You will all receive a guidebook after this meeting with further details. Can everyone please form groups? The minimum is three to be safe.'_

_Klein looked at Kirito._

'_You're with us right? So then it'll be a group of seven!'_

_Kirito smiled. 'Yeah, I guess…' He noticed that the cloaked figure had grouped with the young girl who had frowned before. That made two. He couldn't see their pets either._

_It seemed Sigurd had noticed as well since he walked over._

'_Do you have another member?' Kirito heard him ask, _

'_No.' A feminine voice came from the hood. _So she's a girl…

'_Well, that's a problem… I can't let a group of two go to the boss room...esp-' He caught himself. Kirito knew what he was going to say: _especially if you're girls. _'Especially if you don't have pets to help you.' The shorter girl huffed, 'But I do!' As she said this, a small, grey head poked out of her pocket. 'We'll handle ourselves just fine!' _

_Kirito saw that she, like him, carried only a sword._

Heh…

_Sigurd looked somewhat irritated. 'It's not safe…'_

_The dark-haired girl sighed, annoyed._

'_Er… um… I can…' Kirito said in a soft voice as he approached them._

_They looked up at him in surprise, though he couldn't actually tell if the hooded girl was surprised or not due to her cloak._

'_I can join your group.' He looked at Klein apologetically but was given a thumbs up._

_Sigurd looked him up and down doubtfully but managed to squeeze out a small smile. The short girl clapped her hands._

'_Alright then, that settles it! Now I can finally fight against the boss!' She smiled brightly and shook Kirito's hand. 'Ok, let's form a temporary group.' She sent group requests to Kirito and the cloaked girl. He saw that her name was Asuna from the window floating beside her. The other girl was called Yuuki._

'_Well then, done!' Yuuki said. The other players seemed to be already in groups. There were a total of seven, with Sigurd leading the first one-the largest. Although he didn't say it, the groups were probably numbered in terms of ability. Kirito's group was the smallest group and looked weak so they were group number seven. Klein's was the fifth group, with six members._

Yuuki seemed happy enough with the arrangement and Asuna… he couldn't tell what she was thinking. After that, the strategies were explained in detail and Klein… er…'congratulated' him for grouping with girls… Ahem. Well, then there was a party to celebrate finding the boss room, which he mostly sat out of. Klein said he had something to do so left early and he was sitting with his new-group members in awkward silence.

Then everyone got up early in the morning to meet at the teleporting gates above Haze and they headed toward the boss room. Kirito's group was at the back so all the monsters were taken out by the other groups-mostly Sigurd's. Their destination was located in a stone, tower-like structure on the eastern part of the floor, on the top-most level. They…or rather the first few groups had to fight through the other eleven floors before they reached the top, with pets healing them constantly. Kirito only drew his sword once-when a few monsters had snuck up on the back. It was then that he saw the cloaked girl used a rapier.

It took four hours to reach the boss room. Sigurd was... smiling? He didn't know what he was doing and he quickly directed his gaze back to the entrance. Everyone was silent as Sigurd slowly pushed open the doors and everyone immediately ran in. The pet healers and helpers stayed at the entrance for backup. They waited. The torches on the walls were lighted up one after another and the room brightened. After the last torch was lit, five Belir emerged from the walls on the far side and crawled toward them at a surprisingly fast pace. Letting go of his other worries, Kirito focussed on his sword. From his peripheral vision, he saw Yuuki and Asuna just behind. A few guns were fired but they missed. Blades did more damage anyway, if used correctly. Before anyone had realised what was happening, all five monsters had shattered. There were murmurs of amazement from the other players. Kirito smiled at his group but immediately dashed forward as the beetles re-spawned and came scuttling back. They would have been taken out just as quickly if not for the boss suddenly materialising before them. A window appeared, showing that the information from the guidebook was, in fact, correct. As the beast appeared, Kirito saw that it _huge_, at least four storeys tall, dark purple with silver eyes positioned wide apart. The blades on his forelegs looked like they were made of metal. Its body was long, but more bulky than what you'd expect of a mantis. But that was not the problem at the moment.

The problem was that the smaller beasts were _behind_ it, blocked by its tail.

_Tail?_

The AI controlling them didn't seem to be intelligent enough to crawl_ around_ it. Kirito's group couldn't really get close in case of being crushed by the boss so had to resort to shooting. The bullets would've hit but Scyther moved its leg in the way while it was launching an attack at the other groups. It turned around, its eyes becoming a reddish colour. Angrily, it swung its damaged leg at them. Luckily, it was feeling the bullets and the three jumped out of the way. While it was focussed on them, Sigurd took the opportunity and told his, the second and the third group to attack while the other two groups moved toward the back of the room. The beast noticed the action but had to twist its body around to be able to attack. The Belir were quickly pelted with bullets and re-spawned again. About seven players were near the entrance, using their assault rifles to land powerful attacks. The reloading was slow so about ten players from the main groups took turns in protecting them. Meanwhile, the first five groups seemed to have been successful in taking advantage of the boss' awful manoeuvring skills and were already starting to force its second HP bar to the yellow zone. The sixth group was in its blind spot. The mere four players seemed to think of this as an opportunity and charged. Kirito didn't notice until the boss cross-slashed, injuring many, and turned around toward the foolish players that attacked it. The main groups were temporarily winded and the assault group's bullets left little damage.

It was important to have a lot of back-up when attacking a powerful beast, but the only other group they had with them was Kirito's. He saw the boss' attack motion start. Gritting his teeth, he leaped in front of the cowering player and blocked the attack. The force made his knees buckle and he felt himself being driven to the ground. His HP had nearly reached the yellow zone from the shockwave created but he had to hold on for the other player to escape.

Fortunately, the player behind him had scurried away as soon as he realised Kirito probably wasn't going to hold. Smiling grimly, he tilted his blade and quickly jumped out of the way as the redirected leg crashed down where he was a moment ago. The 'beetles' were crawling toward him but luckily his other group members cut them down before he was in their range. He had no time for those. The boss was ignoring the attacks from behind. Kirito realised that its HP was only decreasing slightly.

'YUUKI! ASUNA! Be prepared to switch!' He said as he leapt forward. He had noticed before that there was one relatively large soft place on his body that were reachable by a sword. It was below the abdomen, where two hard pieces of shell met. For long-range weapons like guns, there was also one on its neck. Both were vulnerable from the front, which was where Kirito was. If he had been on the back, then he wouldn't be able to cut the stomach because it was covered by shell.

'SIGURD! Attack the neck!' He yelled while thrusting into the beast's stomach. It screeched and but couldn't do much as Kirito was too near its body. He used a variety of sword skills at the same spot until the boss stumbled a bit from an attack on its neck.

_Good. They listened._

'Switch!' He cried as he retreated. With attacks from the front and back, the monster was on its last HP bar, but the sixth group was still struggling with the bugs. Two of the players had managed to get injured, one seriously. With guns in the game, not many players seemed to be good at close-range battles. They weren't faring well even with their pets healing them. He quickly looked over the situation. The boss' HP was decreasing rapidly. Other players were making its way toward them. He glanced at his own group members, hoping they will be alright for the moment. One of the group six players was lying on the ground and for a frightening moment, Kirito thought he was dead, but the player's HP increased into the yellow zone and he sighed in relief. He quickly slashed at two of the monsters as the other three killed two more. The last wave of beetles had already re-spawned and was heading toward them. Bullets hit two of them and they went down. Three left. He was confident that he could finish them in one go. The boss' last HP bar had reached the yellow zone and was steadily decreasing. The reinforcements should have almost arrived. Distantly, as he readied his weapon, the boss' HP bar turned red and Sigurd yelled orders at the top of his voice.

But no spikes appeared.

Instead, Scyther moved its tail.

It lengthened and swept toward Yuuki and Asuna.

**AN: Well, that's Chapter 3! It was kinda obvious the 'cloaked figure' was Asuna, right? Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to get it done ASAP coz the previous one really short. The most annoying thing is that the internet on my computer stopped working for the sixth time yesterday so I didn't bother trying to upload anything… hehe… **

**Anyway, Asuna is still winning in the poll… Sachi is a second but has way less votes… I personally don't really mind who Kirito goes with but… Come on people, vote!**

**Please R&R**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: So here's chapter 4! I can't believe I forgot to mention this but some characters like Sachi may appear afterwards with a different personality or something like that coz I agree that she is really weak -.- DaughteroftheRedKing thx for reminding me! I already changed it and made Yuuki have a shorter temper.**

…

**I just remembered something else.**

**I forgot to tell you that can vote twice in the poll.**

…

**Why am I so forgetful…**

**Oh, and please, please, please REVIEW ideas and comments and stuff!**

**Chapter 4**

'Asuna! Yuuki!' Kirito screamed and turned toward his group members. Dashing forward, he cursed as he realised that the beetles had reached the other members. His eyes fell on a small dagger on the ground. _Seemed that one of the injured players had dropped it._ Not decreasing his speed and bending forward, he threw dagger at the nearest beast. It cut its throat and caused its HP to reach the red zone, all the while running toward his group.

The tail was inches from them. He leapt up, knowing that he wouldn't make it in time. The way Scyther's HP was decreasing, it wouldn't die in time either. The reinforcements were nowhere to be seen.

Kirito felt himself lose control once again as Asuna and Yuuki held up their weapons. No way could they stop it. Just as he was feeling so helpless, a small, pink nose poked out of Yuuki's pocket and bared its fangs. A rat-like beast appeared in the path of the tail, stopping it for a moment-enough for them to escape- and crashed into the wall, going back to its original form. Yuuki's HP dangerously bordered the red zone and she quickly ran towards her fallen pet and gently placed it back into her pocket. Their relief was interrupted though, by Sigurd's lone war cry.

_Shit._

They turned to see him charging at the beast's back, apparently thinking that he could finish it off in one hit. Unfortunately, the tail had lengthened and made the boss' balance and agility much higher. It swiftly turned around and screeched, blocking the bullets with the shell on its forelegs. As Kirito and his group took off to support him, Sigurd stupidly kept charging, drawing his broadsword from his back, which had replaced his rifle since rifles weren't good at fighting in the front. It was either that he still hadn't caught on why Kirito told him to attack the neck or he was over-confident in his own skill but his slash made long sets of sparks to appear on the boss' back and its health barely decreased. Instead, as Sigurd was recovering from his move, the mantis raised its tail and it swept into him, bashing him to the ground. There was only a thread left in his HP as he lay there, stunned. Kirito had no doubt he was aiming for all the items. The boss was not finished yet. It towered over him and bent its forelegs. Sigurd's eyes opened wide as the slash of death neared him. Kirito wasn't close enough to help and could only watch in terror.

However, Sigurd didn't die. As the rubble cleared, everyone could see a greenish-blue haired man standing in front of him, weapons raised in defence. As the boss growled in confusion, he fell forward and Kirito caught him, blocking the rebound of the boss's attack.

'Ah… ahhhhhhh!' The ungrateful man behind them fled in horror, stumbling to the entrance but everyone's attention was too focussed on the boss to notice. His pet cobra hissed as it restored part of his health. Yuuki glared at him and was about to say something when Asuna placed a hand on her arm. She closed her mouth but her body remained tense.

Kirito shook the man's shoulders. He saw that his name was Diabel.

'Hey, hey are you alright?'

Diabel smiled sadly. His health was even lower than what Sigurd's was before and his pet couldn't heal him because of its lack of HP. Kirito dragged down the air in front of him to withdraw a crystal but a hand stopped him.

'No…' Diabel panted as his last bits of life started to wane away. 'Just…' He stared intently at Kirito. 'The Black Beast. That was you…right? Kirito didn't say anything.

'I have…one request…' He panted.

Kirito gripped onto his hand. 'What is it? I will do what I can.'

Diabel shook his head. 'Promise…me… definitely…'

'… Ok.' Kirito nodded.

Please save… everyone…' And with that, Diabel's body went limp and he shattered.

Kirito stared at the broken pieces of code, trying to grasp them, but failing. That was all it was: digital code! It was only a version of their real body! Why did he have to die when they weren't even themselves?

_This world isn't fair. _The calmer part of his mind said.

_I let a player die in front of my eyes. _His dark personality taunted.

_I didn't have a choice. _The other reasoned.

… _If I had been...earlier…_

Kirito stood up, his bangs shadowing his eyes. The battle had resumed once again. Klein's group was trying to support the third group, which had been Diabel's.

'KLEIN! Switch with me!' The said man heard him and Kirito took his place. Yuuki and Asuna followed and he strained a smile.

'Ready?'

The held up their weapons in response, dodging bullets that had ricocheted off the boss' shell. Unlike before, the boss was now much quicker and with its eyesight, ambushing from the back wouldn't work.

So Kirito met it head on.

'Aoohhh…!' He yelled as he slashing downwards. Unlike Sigurd, his blade cut through the shell, though not with ease. The boss roared with anger as the other two thrust their blades into the cut. Kirito repeated the move. As the system identified it, causing his sword to glow red, it also made sure that he got a slight boost upwards.

In BTO, if a player was in the air, as long as they repeatedly used sword skills, they would remain there. Also, the system made air pressure slightly higher in boss rooms but not so much that it would cause disadvantages to players. Since it was a game, things like that could be exaggerated a bit. Kirito had slanted his sword slightly and as his blade met with the air; it boosted him upwards by a tiny bit, not really noticeable. He thought briefly that if Luna were there, then he wouldn't need to go into so much trouble. After another boost, the neck was about three metres above him. The boss tried to slash at him but he ignored it. His eyes burnt with hate and darkness as he used the momentum he gained from the last move to gain more altitude. The neck was now within his sword's range.

He smirked- a cold and merciless smirk- and dragged his blade across the boss' throat, almost severing the head off. He landed lightly and for a second, a blood-curdling scream chilled the room before the boss shattered into millions of polygons. The shards rained onto the remaining players and Kirito's eyes returned to its usual brown. After a moment of silence, everyone started cheering.

'WAIT!' They heard a low voice coming from the second group. A short, stockily built…cactus-head jumped to the centre of the room. Kirito thought he remembered him from the party the day before. He seemed to be close to Diabel.

'Diabel is dead! There were plenty of you near him at that time! So why didn't ANY of you do anything?'

_No Answer._

He pointed to Sigurd, who had resumed his calmness and was trying to regain everyone's trust. 'And YOU! You could have helped him when he was blocking the attack FOR YOU! You should have known the attack patterns! You said that's why you stopped the reinforcement group from going to the other side!'

_So that's why he couldn't see anyone there when Yuuki and Asuna were in trouble. _Kirito thought angrily, but didn't let it show.

The cactus-head continued. 'And you were the one who told all of us to attack the neck. _It worked!_ So don't even try to tell me you didn't know what was coming.' Apparently the other players apart from Kirito's group thought Sigurd had figured it out.

_It was different from the beta testing. _Kirito said in his mind. He saw a window pop up, showing what the boss had dropped. He was the one to deal the last blow on the boss so he got the items.

Sigurd approached cactus-head.

'Kibaou! I will inform you that the boss was different from the beta testing. The reason I withdrew the reinforcements was to protect you…' He leant in near his ear and whispered something. Kirito didn't need to hear it to know what he said.

_Weakling._

Kibaou's face turned red with rage and he shouted abuse at Sigurd.

He ignored it and turned to the others.

'Good job everyone!' And then he turned back. 'If you want to blame someone,' He pointed at Kirito. 'Blame him for not giving him a crystal.'

Yuuki bristled at this. Asuna tried to stop her from punching him but Yuuki shrugged her off, accidentally brushing against Asuna's hood in the process. The players gasped as her chestnut-coloured hair tumbled down onto her shoulders. She had a small face with a pair of bright, hazelnut eyes. When Yuuki hesitated, she quickly pulled her back from Sigurd.

_Wooowoooowooooweeeeeee!_

Kirito was shocked that he was thinking this. That is, until he realised it was actually Klein.

The beauty stepped in front of Yuuki and walked towards Sigurd. 'Why on earth do you think Kirito-kun was running to YOUR side of the room?' She didn't wait for an answer. 'It was to protect YOU!'

Sigurd stood his ground. His hand was clearly itching to do something but couldn't because of the large audience.

'Protect me?' He managed to say. 'As if some stranger will risk their lives for me! It was just so that he could get his hands on the items after I died and say that he had tried to save me.' He looked proud as if he had figured out someone's evil plan. 'Plus, isn't that guy a beta tester as well.'

Kirito looked up from the items window, and stood as Kibaou glared at him.

'Is-that-true?' He demanded fiercely.

This time Yuuki spoke.

'Who cares if he is a beta tester or not! He wasn't the one who killed Diabel! He even avenged him by slaying the boss!'

'Shut up!' Kibaou shouted. 'There should be other beta testers here as well! Especially the ones near Diabel when he-'

'Kirito-kun saved us!' A voice said from the crowd and a boy with dark blue hair walked to the centre.

He smiled as he continued. 'If it wasn't for him, me, and my group members would either be heavily injured or dead by now. Another three players joined him and they stared Kibaou down. 'We don't care even if he **is** a beta tester.'

Yuuki smiled and everyone else agreed when they saw Asuna nod. Kirito clenched his teeth.

'I am better than beta testers. I made it further than anyone else, gaining experience and knowledge but…' He paused and inhaled, as if running out of breath. When he continued, his voice contained an unfathomable coldness. 'I let Diabel die right in front of my eyes. For that, I have no excuse.' He pressed onto his window and a black long coat appeared. No one spoke as the crowd parted for him to move through and he walked toward up the stairs to the door that would allow access to the second floor. A small mouse scuttled over to him and squeaked. He looked to see Yuuki and Asuna at the bottom of the steps. They stood in silence for a while. Then, Kirito's eyes hardened even more and he turned his head back.

'You should both join a guild.' He said so that only they could hear.

With that, he placed his hand onto the door and pushed it open. Only when he walked along the corridor to activate the link to the Teleportation Gates did he let the tears fall in his heart.

**AN: Awwww… Poor Kirito… Hm seems like he has a darkness in his heart.**

…

**That sounds weird…**

**To everyone who's asking, I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE that Luna will appear 'K? Though I don't know when. Hehe… *Sheepish grin* But when she does she will appear a lot.**

**The poll results mostly want Asuna to get together but I'm gonna close the poll in maybe a week or less… So if you really want someone else then vote ASAP though I don't really know if that will make a difference =.=**

**I need all of your opinions on if I should get Sinon in the story… Of course she will be if she wins the poll. Oh and of course other characters that you will like including any OCs that you thought up (I don't guarantee that it will be in the story though…) You can either PM me or review it.**

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: And so the results for Kirito's pairing… Asuna wins… by a lot. Oh and I've been thinking to include extra parts after each chapter about the player's pets. You can review me whose pet you want it to be about and what you want to know about it… though it's probably going to be really boring.**

**Chapter 5**

_A few days after the first floor was cleared, a guidebook was issued to every NPC store with information to help beginners in their training and levelling up as well as additional tips on how to use sword skills and others. It also contained a detailed description on the second floor boss. The guide was given out for free and with the information, the players gained access to the third floor._

24th December 2022

_**The Forbidden Forest (Mainland)**_

Kirito swung his sword sharply at the reindeer beasts, a monster type that only appears at night on Christmas Eve, reducing them to polygons.

After the incident in the first floor boss room, Kirito spent all his time fighting monsters and going on quests. When he was fighting, he could forget everything. If he was still for even a moment, shame and guilt would engulf him so he had no choice. Right now, he was on one of the Christmas quests that he had heard about but never actually had a chance to try since it hadn't been the right part of the year. He had a wide variety of choices since most players and guilds didn't like to risk themselves on something that could very well last for more than a day. It was either that, or they didn't even know where to enter quests.

A window appeared showing the amount of col he received. He gained no EXP since he would receive them at the end. Barely glancing at it, he advanced deeper into the forest.

Sprinting through the trees, Kirito finally reached the Clearing shown on the quest map. He had started at around six and in the last few hours, the monster mobs had only managed to reduce his health by less than a quarter, even though they had been pretty high level. He walked out from the trees. A seemingly bulky figure sat in the centre, wearing a red coat and a Santa hat. When it turned around, Kirito saw that it was actually a skeleton, with extremely long fingers and toes and a wide ribcage. Above its head was a window with 'Santa Claws' on it, and a green HP bar. Kirito narrowed his eyes at its lack of flesh and therefore lack of soft targets. Claws stood up, easily reaching five metres in height and about a third of that in width. A purple glow came from its eyes, adding to its eerie aura. It tilted its head back and a deep croak rose from its…er…where its throat was supposed to be.

'Grooo! Groooo! Crooooo!' _Ho Ho Ho._

It sounded so comical Kirito would've laughed if the situation was different.

Behind it was a monster resembling a sack. It was probably being protected, from the way it was positioned. Its information window told him that it only had ten HP.

Kirito's gaze snapped back when Claws raised its arms for its starting attack. It dashed forward, coat flapping behind it. As Kirito jumped to one side, he saw that the joints seemed to be connected to the bones by something, allowing the skeleton to move freely. The limbs were also thicker than usual; to make sure they weren't too breakable and could support weight without extra padding. It also made it heavier and more awkward. The monster stopped short from hitting a tree and recovered from its attack. It turned back to Kirito. The coat hung open to expose his ribs. It used the same attack again but this time Kirito jumped, landing lightly behind it. He closed the distance between them until they were almost touching and leaped. Claws tried to slash at him while twisting around but its bones clicked against each other, getting stuck. It provided an easy target and Kirito expertly cut at its elbow joint. The monster growled when half its limb shattered into polygons. Unaccustomed to the lack of weight, it faltered, leaving an opening. Kirito turned in mid-air and continued his chain of sword skills at the exposed shoulder and back. Using _Horizontal Square_, he slashed off the red cloth that was in the way and severed off the remainder of the arm, his attack pushing him up and sideways a bit, toward the centre of its ribcage. His sword glowed red and he unleashed a series of thrusts and cuts, aiming for the space between each bone making up the spine. Claws' HP decreased rapidly, reaching the yellow and then the red zone. Still, Kirito did not stop until he had 'taken apart' the entire middle section, the different bones shattering as soon as it left the main body. With one last moan, the skeleton disappeared into a rain of blue shards. Breathing out, Kirito then walked towards the other monster. It looked like it was made from a rough creamy cloth with presents sticking out from the top. In one last futile effort, it leapt up and tried to squash the black-clad player. It was finished by a single slash and shattered into polygons. Two 'Congratulations' windows appeared before him. One telling him that he had reached level twenty and the other showing the amount of EXP, col and drops he received from completing the quest. He quickly scanned the drops list:

_Surprise present (2)_

_Christmas chocolate_

_-Eve- (Weapon)_

His eyes stopped at _Eve_. Sheathing his current sword, he opened his weapons window and took out his newly acquired weapon. It was a heavy sword, on the boundaries between being one handed and two handed, perfectly balanced. Kirito ran his hands along its length. It was longer than his usual blade, and a little wider. Its black hilt seemed to melt into the lighter shaded blade, but could still prevent attacks from reaching his hands. From closer inspection, he saw that it was double-edged – both edges razor-sharp. A thin scratch carved through the centre, ending at the tip. The sword was quite thin, despite its weight, though it was not thin enough to be flexible. As he gave it an experimental swing, the moonlight reflected off its body and it seemed to glow a dark blue, the colour of the evening sky. Just as he was about to put it back, he heard a faint rustle to his left. From the corner of his vision, he saw a pack of _Grey wolves_ – level ten beasts that always hunted in groups – appear from the forest. They had probably picked up the foreign scent that players had. And the only player in their range was Kirito.

_The perfect chance to try out my new weapon._

Both parties lunged at the same time, but Kirito covered twice the other's distance. He slashed twice horizontally at the first two of the mob. After the first slash, he immediately started an attack motion in the opposite direction. The blade followed his hand as if it were part of it and both wolves shattered as they fell to the side. He then thrust into the third wolf, and cut at the next, which had tried to surprise him by leaping through his fallen pack member's remains. The sword easily outshined his original weapon from it easy manoeuvrability to its balance. The whole pack was finished in under a minute. He ignored the window that popped up and swung his sword again, smiling for the first time in a long time.

* * *

_25__th__ December 2022_

_**Skull City, Level 1, Haze**_

The girl walked along one of the main streets of Skull City, a large town on the first floor of Haze. A small turtle clung onto her head like a helm and a bow was slung over her shoulder, a quiver of arrows next to it. At her side was a revolver in a leather sheath. She drew many glances from around her as she made her way toward a building in the corner. Her short, pale-blue hair fluttered occasionally in the gentle breeze and matched perfectly with her blue and white cloth armour. It was winter so she wore a thick blue coat over it. Her bow was made from a rare dark-blue metal that was both flexible and highly-crafted. The bowstring was also high-quality. She now walked into the shop of the person who made it. A young player smiled from behind a display case. Which quickly turned into a surprised 'O'.

'Oh my god, Sinon! You dyed your hair!' There were no other customers in the shop at the moment.

Sinon anxiously touched her pale bangs. 'What, Lizbeth? Is it bad?'

'No, no, Sinon! It's great! And you even cut it!'

The said player smiled, 'It's much lighter with it short. Both of us have dyed hair now!'

The pink-haired shopkeeper grinned and then gestured to Sinon's bow. 'Are you here to repair that, or upgrade it.'

Sinon shrugged off her weapon. 'Both. I've been using it a lot recently since you're still repairing my Hecate. It's durability is almost at its limit.' She opened her player's menu and withdrew some items. 'And here are the materials you said you needed to upgrade it…?'

Lizbeth nodded in confirmation. She placed the weapon on her works table. After checking its weapon statistics, she took out her new blacksmith's hammer that had been dropped from a lone _Grey Wolf _wandering around near a small town at the foot of _Right Eye _the day before. Although it was a tough fight, the items it gave her made it all worth it. She held up her hammer proudly. 'With this, I won't need to worry about breaking your weapon when I upgrade it even if it has bad durability! Not that I would break it anyway.' She added hastily.

'Hai, hai.' Sinon rolled her eyes. 'Are you actually going to use it or is it just around for show.'

The blacksmith looked at her friend and pouted. 'C'mon! What's wrong with being excited when I get a new tool! Ne, Ginger!' A small '_Ya'_ of agreement came from the back of the shop. Sinon turned to see a familiar shape flit across the floor and hide behind its owner's legs, though its ears still stuck out.

'It's alright!' Lizbeth said. 'You've met her before. She's my friend.'

Hesitantly, the creature poked its head out and looked around. Sinon had to stifle an 'awwwwwww'. It–he was just so cute! The little devil stared at her suspiciously before flapping its _tiny_ (awwwww) wings and landing on the table. Unlike what you would expect from a 'devil', this one had tanned skin that was slightly ginger-coloured, thus his name. His clothes consisted mainly of a short-sleeved red robe that almost reached his knees, with a black belt around his waist. Two brown horns protruded from his messy, jet-black hair, curling slightly inwards. The only other thing he wore was a black leather anklet. In his left hand was a black pitchfork. His stern expression suddenly changed into _exactly_ the same that Lizbeth had before– the one when she was talking about her hammer– when he rubbed his cheek against his weapon/tool or whatever it was. Of course, Sinon forgave him because of his cuteness.

'Yaaaaa!' He purred again as his owner pat him on the head. He babbled something in another language. Sinon looked perplexed and Lizbeth just shrugged.

'No idea.' She looked down at the weapon on the table.

'You know what to do, right?' She said to him and he nodded. She gestured for Sinon to step back a bit.

Ginger waved his pitchfork in the air and it glowed red before unleashing a torrent of heat. The heat covered the bow, distorting the air around it. Lizbeth focussed and raised her hammer. The heat moved aside when her hand neared and the sound of metal hitting metal rung in the shop. The process was repeated four times on the heated bow. The total number of hammers had to be +4 the number of upgrades that the weapon already had. After the system confirmed that the last hit was successful, a window appeared with: _Upgrade Successful, Star Shooter +2_. Lizbeth sighed in relief and the heat dispersed. She held up the weapon.

'Here ya go.'

Sinon took it from her and grinned. 'Thanks! I knew you were the best blacksmith for the job!'

Lizbeth blushed. 'Not really…' She looked at her in the eye. 'But don't think that I'll let you off paying just because you're good at flattering.'

The other girl feigned hurt. 'As if I would do that! Is it the usual price?'

The black-smith nodded. 'One uncommon drop that I like.'

'Ok…' She selected an item and traded it.

Lizbeth widened her eyes. 'Is that a _metal horn_?'

'Yup! Except I don't need anything forged at the moment so I'm going to pay you with it.' Sinon confirmed.

A metal horn was a rare stone best for making strong weapons with a fixed shape like axes and guns.

'Wow! These are really rare around here, you know?'

Sinon shrugged. 'Well, recently there have been a lot of lone monsters without their mobs, roaming around and players have been using them to gain good drops.'

Lizbeth nodded. 'Yeah. It's really strange… Maybe the spawning patterns change at Christmas?'

'Hm…maybe…' Sinon looked thoughtful.

Ginger head snapped up.

The shop's door– which had been closed until then, because of the weather–opened, and a player walked in. Sinon quickly glanced at the clock on her menu.

'Well, Lizbeth. I'd better go hunt before it gets too late. See ya!' She bade goodbye and left, slinging the bow around her right shoulder.

'Bye! Come back tomorrow for your rifle!' Lizbeth called before looking back at the new customer. He was a first-timer, she saw, and carried a basic sword in a sheath on his back. She took in his high-quality coat and other clothes and narrowed her eyes. The weapons and equipment didn't fit. Putting on her business smile, she went up to greet him.

'Welcome!' She said brightly.

'Hi.' The boy said, looking at her with his dark eyes.

Lizbeth faltered as her heart skipped a beat but she quickly recovered. 'Wh-what would you like?' She looked at the sword on his back.

'A sword sheath.' The boy said as Ginger flied up to assess him. He stared back.

'Can I see the sword?' Lizbeth asked.

She was surprised when the boy opened his window instead of unsheathing his sword. She gasped when she saw the sword in his hands but stopped herself from asking, though she did hold onto it for a little longer than she needed to. Giving back the weapon, she pointed to a rack on the other side of the shop.

'That shelf has the size for your sword.' She said.

The player walked over to the sheaths. He selected a plain black one and tried it. Nodding, he looked back and asked for the price. Lizbeth told him and he paid the money. He smiled at her as he secured it onto his back. A faint blush rose to her cheeks but she managed to stammer out a 'Thank you for coming' as the player exited her shop.

**AN: I think this chapter wasn't written well... It feels weird when I read it. Please review what you think and about the extras for the pets... I would think that Luna would be your first choice? If she is, review or PM me what you want to know and hopefully I'll tell you in the next update...**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: I didn't exactly want this story to take the Harem route… Or maybe I did… But I don't think I'll focus on it, though I have planned out something concerning it that will affect the main plot. Wait, that means that I am going to focus on it?!**

**BTW forget what I said about Luna being in a different form… I'm only considering that part at the moment… Anyway, she's going to appear in maybe two or three chapters or so…**

**Warning: OC in this chapter! But don't worry he'll only be appearing in this chapter and the next… unless you lovely readers want him to, of course.**

**Chapter 6**

_3__rd__ January 2023_

_**4**__**th**__** Floor, Calm Lake, Haze**_

Asuna thrust her rapier into the first of the _Flying Fish_ mob and sighed impatiently as the rest swam away in fear.

'You've been sighing a lot lately.'

Asuna turned to see Yuuki beside her. She hadn't heard her approach. Shrugging, she reached out to pat Whiskers, Yuuki's pet rat. 'Really?'

'Yeah.' They were silent for a second. 'Is it because of…Kirito-kun?'

The chest-nut haired girl stared at her guild member, eyes boring into the other's.

'Yes.' She finally said. She seemed to consider something before speaking. 'He's been in neither boss fights since the first one. And…'

'You're worried that he won't be at the strategic meeting today either?' The dark-haired girl said. Despite the way she said it, it was more of a statement than a question, but Asuna glanced at her before answering by nodding slightly. She sighed again and wondered if she should voice her other worry– that she was actually _worrying_ about someone she'd met for such a short time.

She had taken his advice to join… kind of… a guild since the only members were her and Yuuki. They could form an 'official' guild even with two people, though they still hadn't thought of a name yet, but they didn't want to become noticed just because it was guild with only two girls in it. Knowing the information gatherers, it would probably get out quickly. Luckily, the guild icons above them only showed that they were in the same guild–not how many members there were, though that didn't stop them from being stared at when they walked on a street.

'We should get going now.' She said, walking quickly away from the lake. 'We can get some training done in the grass near the meeting place. The monsters there are easier than the rest.'

Yuuki caught up to her and made a face. 'Ugh… You know those ones are so repetitive that I'm already sick of them.'

Asuna smiled at her comment. 'Well, bear with it. At least they give us more experience points than the stupid fish here.' She caught Yuuki giving her a strange look. 'What?'

'Um… isn't it because you're so scary that you scared them off and only get one for every mob?' She suggested.

'Is that so?' Asuna placed a finger on her chin. 'Hm…' She concentrated, knitting her eyebrows. 'Like this?' Yuuki laughed at the stern expression.

'Yes, _that_!'

They walked in silence for a while with Asuna practicing her glare until they reached the outskirts of the town they were heading to. The streets were getting noticeably more crowded so she said,

'Hey, do you think I could scare away the other players with this?'

* * *

_**Afternoon Tavern, Clock Town**_

Kirito sat in one of the taverns just around the corner to where the Fourth Floor boss strategic meeting was to be held. It would start in less than an hour. Which meant he had less than an hour to decide whether he should go or not. After clearing the first floor, he had felt guilty and obliged to help. Before he knew it, he had written a guide and anonymously sent it to the NPC stores in all the accessible areas and also unconsciously started letting some of the monsters from mobs he fought, escape. It didn't really happen often since most beasts were too aggressive or their AIs too 'simple-minded' to actually even 'consider' escaping, but when they did, he let them. He knew it wasn't much– He tended to fight the higher-levelled monsters and even one of them could be somewhat difficult to lower-level players–but at least there would be a few mob-less beasts wandering around offering EXP to players with enough level or skill. Since he dedicated most of his time to losing himself in battle, there were probably quite a few of those 'wanderers' but he knew the 'Spawning patterns change after Christmas' theory was not going to last for long. Everyone will soon notice that there were only a few lone monsters and the rest were all normal. It wouldn't really matter to him if rumours started but you could never underestimate the information network of SAO.

And somehow everything–his guilt and sense of duty–led him to be silently staring at his still-full mug in the corner of tavern. He weighed his options. It was either he went, or he didn't. Like for every other floor, he had found the boss room, scouted it, and sent a guide out, but this time to the stronger guilds who were leading the boss fight. It was only after he sent it that he realised it was a bad idea–strong guilds tended to hold themselves over others and could very well have ran headlong into the boss room with the information… One reason he thought he should go. But then, most of the people participating would know him from the first floor. In fact, he heard that Kibaou and Sigurd were actually leading it. Somehow they had come to cooperate with each other despite Sigurd being a beta-tester. A reason to not go… He sighed, but then reminded himself of the other reason that he needed to go. He remembered from the beta-testing. The fourth boss was unique. And _definitely_ _**not**_ in a good way.

When he had fought it in the beta-testing, he was surprised that the creator would make something strange so early on the floors. Sure, the high level of the first boss could be explained– to discourage the players. Of course, in the testing, no one was discouraged since they weren't confronted with the possibility of real death, but in the current SAO… The first one had been level eighteen, the same level as the second boss, and was one of the reasons why everyone felt so hopeless at the start.

_Level Eighteen._ What did that mean?

Simple. At that time, more than half the players in the game were still at either level one or two. If a player was level seven… well, that was considered a miracle. Even Kirito was only level twelve. The words _Level eighteen_ were like a death sentence. Luckily for them, the statistics of the boss were actually not all that high and they managed to defeat him. But not before Diabel died.

The creator–Kayaba Akihiko–liked to toy with others, that's for sure. The fourth boss was no different. It was an egg. He had explained that in the guide. The egg itself had over-the-top defence stats. Its purpose was probably to wear everyone down. Its only move was jumping around. After the egg, which had a whole two HP bars of its own, cracks open and shatters, the actual boss would appear as a huge, green dragon. Defence high, attack high, speed high, strength high and it could _fly_ since the room was really big. It hadn't been all that hard for him in the beta since Luna was with him and he could use the space to his advantage but without a flying beast, which he knew the participants of the boss meeting probably would not have, it would be hard, very hard.

And then there was the possibility of some stupid guild charging in there alone with the information he had given them. He just hoped that no one was brave… or greedy…enough to do it. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. He knew that his constant lack of sleep was getting to him and silently cursed himself. Fortunately, the guide was only sent out less than a day ago and it would be logical to attend a strategic meeting before going.

And hopefully, Kirito was just overthinking it.

* * *

Yuuki looked around at the meeting area. It was an open space with a stage-like structure at the front where the 'leaders' would stand and speak. There was still some time, maybe half an hour, before the meeting would start and already, she could see many players sitting on the benches nearby and standing in the space. She felt Asuna tense a bit beside her and she followed her gaze, landing on a certain green-haired man whispering to his guild members. As the girls became visible, they, like before, attracted an extreme amount of attention, especially from the male players. Asuna was about to use her glare when Yuuki saw a cloaked figure walk into the open area and nudged her.

'Remind you of anyone?'

Asuna smiled. She had been the one to wear a cloak on the first floor. She couldn't remember her reason now, except that she didn't want to be seen. She had been revealed in the boss room but she somehow didn't mind.

_I wonder why…?_

Players were starting to stream into the area so she led her friend to the side where they could be, for the best part, unnoticed, and still have a decent view. Her eyes automatically went to search for the cloaked player from before but whoever it was was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Kirito had gone to the meeting…only to immediately turn around again as he spotted the pair he had grouped with on the first floor. He didn't have a reason to. His sword was different; his cloak covered his clothes and face. They couldn't see his name since player names weren't displayed.

So why the hell did he leave?

He pat his face to wake up–constant training was really getting to him–and focussed back onto the meeting area. He was in one of the _many_ clock towers in the town which obviously resulted in the uncreative name: Clock Town. He was on the fourth landing of the tower, where there was a window directly facing the open area. There had been quite an increase in numbers at the meetings after he released his guide and this one was no different for he had still sent it to NPC stores as well as the guilds. The other thing that made meetings popular was that you didn't have to actually attend the boss fight to be at the meeting so some interested players would be there just to find out more or, he hated to say it but, as a way to pass time.

He looked below to see Sigurd and Kibaou walk onto the stage as, all at once, the clock towers stroke two. After the clock finished its fourteenth '_Dong'_, the boss strategic meeting for the Fourth Floor began.

* * *

_4__th__ January 2023_

_**Fourth Floor Dungeons, East Entrance**_

'Why are we going so early?' Yuuki asked.

'I don't know.' Asuna answered, walking toward the dungeon entrance. Yep, the boss was in a dungeon. Usually, there was only a mini-boss at the end but this time it had both. What made it more puzzling was that the one that had the shortest route to it was through the easiest one.

Yuuki crossed her arms and pouted though she kept walking.

Asuna smiled at her friend. They each drew their weapons and walked down the stone steps.

* * *

Kirito ran through the dimly-lit passage.

_Shit shit shit shit shit…_

After the meeting, he had used an item to strengthen his hearing temporarily and had caught Sigurd telling his guild to meet back at that place at night. Curious, Kirito had hid in the shadows and heard them talking about going to the dungeon way before the meeting time. At that time, he had hoped it was just for preparation purposes but after following Kibaou for a while, he found that their plans were different.

A kangaroo mob with their signature boxing gloves bounded up and threw a punch at him. Glaring at them, Kirito dashed past, weaving through the beasts and cutting them in the process. It was the lowest levelled dungeon so most of them disappeared on the spot but two, low on health, chased after him. Kirito, with no time to stop, quickened his pace until the walls and his feet were a blur. All the while, he kept his weapon drawn, dragging it through the monsters barring his way.

* * *

'Yuuki! Behind you!' Asuna said as she thrust into yet another monster. There had been an unusual number of beasts on this route and they had been barely making any progress. The strange thing was that there were sometimes only one to two beasts of the same mob, with almost no health left. They would get rid of some, only to be stopped again after a few hundred metres. They were now engaged with a particularly annoying group of rat beasts. Whiskers had come out and was leering at them in his large form. He batted the one behind Yuuki away and seemed to squeak triumphantly as the last one shattered before going back to the tiny rat it was. Yuuki picked him up and stroked his cheek absentmindedly as she regarded the route in front of them.

'You know what? Let's go the long way round.'

Asuna nodded and gripped her rapier.

* * *

Sigurd had his eyes to the front, only answering at the appropriate times. Really, that Co… Clob… Cloy… someone should have just left him alone. Now there was a chance that he wouldn't get all the rewards.

* * *

The player tried to ignore his fear by focussing on something else, which just happened to be his guild leader. His leader was chatting to Cobert, another guild's leader, who had a large, rocklike pet next to him. They had joined forces to defeat the floor boss. Sigurd had green hair with a gold headband around it. He carried a large rifle that somehow didn't get tangled up with his cloak, which was also green. Cobert was going to lead the initial attack while Sigurd used his rifle for the long-ranged ones. Eric remembered that his leader had always used a broadsword in boss fights before forming the guild. He looked at other player in front of him–Shiny armour, black beard, black and red cape. He had a huge machine gun under his right arm that would have required tremendous STR stats. His glare showed that he wasn't hesitant to use it–the leader of 'the Warriors'.

He glanced at the emblem on his own shield. It was a purple snake head with two black guns pointing and tilting outwards at the bottom, with venom dripping off the triggers–the symbol for the guild he was in–'Basilisk'.

As if hearing his thoughts, Sigurd's snake slithered across its master's back and stared at him, flicking its purple tongue. He slowed his steps, trying to escape its menacing eyes, but tripped. Sigurd turned around, as if relieved to escape Cobert's company.

'Are you alright err… Eric?' He asked.

'Y-yes.' The player stammered.

'Good.' He said with a bored expression and turned back to his companion.

Eric stood back up and walked along the dungeon passage, clutching his gun tightly, so tight that his knuckles were white. His pet, a small black bird with bat wings, fluttered slightly on his head, concerned.

_Were they really going to try and defeat the boss without anyone else?_

Eric watched the two very different leaders walking at the front and somehow, he didn't feel as secure as he should have been.

**AN: Whew! Guys, please review what you think… I would really appreciate it **** Thx for all the favs and alerts! **


	8. Chapter 7

**AN: Why oh why is everyone so obsessed with Luna…? I'm under pressure… Sigh* Well I'll try and update ASAP… Hopefully she'll be in the next chapter…**

* * *

The piece of artificial intelligence screamed as yet another image disappeared from her mind.

_It's dark… I'm scared…_

_Kirito-kun…_

**Chapter 7**

The two girls walked quickly along the dungeon passage. So far, they hadn't been a soul in sight.

'Why were all those monsters focussed at that place?' Yuuki wondered aloud.

Asuna shrugged. 'Not the slightest idea.' She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and checked the map displayed on her menu window. 'At this rate, we can probably get to the boss room in half an hour.'

* * *

The scene before him was one of pure terror and disorder. So much that it made Kirito halt before the entrance, eyes wide, trying to process it with his brain.

The dragon, more than ten metres tall, had its wings completely unfurled over the open-mouthed players. Its first health bar had barely been depleted yet and most of its enemies were already on the floor, staring up, horrified, at the huge monster. The scariest thing was, there were only ten players in room.

Meaning that someone…more than one… had already died.

Snapping out of his stupor, he immediately dashed toward the centre of the circular room which was no less than fifty metres in diameter. He saw Cobert, one of the leaders he had sent the guide to, harshly ordering his men to attack, his own machine gun pointed toward the dragon's body. The glowing bullets hit its target, but the beast's HP barely moved. The other players were too scared to even stand. Kirito's eyes darted around, trying to find Sigurd. Eventually, his eyes landed on a curled up green ball cowering in a corner, holding his shield up to protect his body.

'Sigurd! GET THE HELL UP!' Kirito yelled, anger boiling inside him. All the while, he was running toward the boss. His sword glowed a dark blue as he activated 'Vertical'.

He used all his leg strength to leap up and was relieved to find that the dragon's underside was just within reach. The huge monster didn't notice, preparing to flap its enormous wings. Kirito knew that attack–Luna had used it as well–and that if it succeeded, they will all be doomed.

The tiny black-clad figure looked so insignificant when he readied his weapon, but as soon as he brought his sword down, dragging it through the monster's lightly-armoured stomach, the dragon screeched and seemed to double over, its attack affectively stopped. Moving his sword in one fluid movement, Kirito chained his sword skills together and managed to execute his twentieth strike before the dragon suddenly changed it course by dropping downwards. Its huge body bashed into the black swordsman, causing him to crash to the ground. Out of the corner of his vision, Kirito saw his health rapidly decrease until just before the halfway point. Unsteadily, he got up, swaying a bit before he steadied himself with his sword. From up close, the wings had looked pretty thin. He glanced back at the pathetic green-haired guild leader who had managed to shakily stand up, though he was still hiding behind the shield.

'SIGURD!' Kirito yelled with a commanding tone. 'Shoot at its wings!' He saw him hesitate as his hand neared his inventory window. Somehow, Kirito knew he was about to use the 'Teleportation Crystal'. 'DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE YOUR GUILD MEMBERS BEHIND! YOU COWARD!' Sigurd ignored him. Kirito watched in disgust as he disappeared in green light.

_The one he used was probably the last one._

He didn't even have time to be angry as he looked up to see the dragon's huge body continuing its descent, wings flapping to make the landing easier. Panicked, Kirito ran forward, hooking his arms around the stupefied players, only sheer speed keeping them in place, and bashed his head into Cobert's shoulder to get him out of the way, causing them to crash into a wall. Their HPs decreased slightly though that wasn't the problem as the dragon's talons scratched against the ground where they had been moments before. The shockwave created was enough to shake the room.

'What th–' Cobert said stupidly but Kirito was already on his feet and positioning his weapon to activate a sword skill.

Before anyone had a chance to blink, he was once again running toward the monster.

'Attack the soft part of the left wing!' He yelled without taking his eyes off the lump of scales in front of him.

It had its horrible yellow eyes following his every move.

* * *

Kibaou paced around the entrance of the dungeons with his arms crossed. Sigurd was late, and so were all of the 'Basilisks'. He could feel the players getting increasingly impatient and he forced himself to calm down.

_It's one hour after the meeting time and he's still not here. He won't reply to messages either. His guild members are also not answering. Does that mean…_

Kibaou turned back to the players before him and put on his fake cheery smile. It looked more like a grimace.

'Let's go and defeat the boss!'

'Without me?'

He turned to see Sigurd standing behind him. His guild members were nowhere to be seen but he didn't have time to question as the players screamed their war cries and took up their weapons.

* * *

Its wings spread wide as a roar was unleashed, so powerful that it ate away at Kirito's health. He half-closed his eyes at the force but kept moving forward. Machine gun bullets hit a now slightly limp wing on the dragon's left and he used the distraction to get to the boss' blind spot–near the healthier right wing. Clenching his sword a little tighter than he needed to, he used Vertical Arc, a two hit sword skill. The system took over, moving his hands to cut along the noticeable bones that bulged out of the leathery dragon skin, creating a red, V-shaped gash. Ignoring the monster's howl of pain, he continued using his glowing sword to slash around the bones. Some of his attacks completely penetrated the skin and he smiled in grim satisfaction at the wounded wing before twisting his body, placing his feet against one of the deeper cuts, and pushing off, causing another howl of pain to escape the monster's mouth. It thrashed around, muscled clenching and one of its claws managed to graze the boy's side, pushing him toward the ground. He flipped over just in time but landed heavier than he'd have liked. His health was already in the middle of the yellow zone. Smoky rings came from the dragon's nostrils but there were no flames. Kirito sighed in relief as he recalled the dragon's inability to spout fire. Perhaps the creator was saner than he thought.

The other players had finally regained their senses and rains of bullets were now hitting the boss. Health waning with its last health bar in the yellow zone, the boss tensed its shoulder muscles. Kirito could feel a strong wind building up as the huge, green dragon flapped its monstrous wings and flew up toward the tip of the dome-like room, its health decreasing bit by bit as it forced itself to move the bones supporting his wings. Without the large body directly above them, Kirito saw sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows at the top. The white walls almost made the room look like a church. It would have been beautiful if not for the danger they were in. Subconsciously, he felt himself crouch down, one foot in front of another and with his fingertips touching the ground. His eyes glued onto the steep wall. Breathe in… Breathe out… Closing his eyes, he smiled when he remembered the various aerial battles he had fought while sitting on Luna's back. If he couldn't fly, he would just have to find another way to get up. He felt his muscles tense, his back foot angling more from the ground.

* * *

The first thing Asuna and Yuuki did when they heard a crashing sound come from the boss room was run towards it. They gasped in horror as a huge green dragon hit one of the players and sent him tumbling towards the floor. Somehow, he managed to land on his feet.

His face was turned toward them a bit as he straightened his legs. Looks of recognition crossed the girls' faces as they regarded the player who now had his back towards them. It was Kirito. The same Kirito from the first floor. They were about to rush in to help when the male swordsman did one of the most unbelievable things they had ever seen:

He ran up a wall.

* * *

Kirito was a quarter of the way up when he heard two voices call out his name.

'Kirito!'

He tilted his head to see two frighteningly familiar girls staring up at him and felt his legs give slightly.

_Why did they have to come? Didn't they know it was dangerous?_

He felt himself leave the 'ground'. Gritting his teeth, he used the boost from a sword skill to keep him up. He had to ignore them or he might fall.

* * *

Asuna could hear her heart beat in her chest as she watched Kirito speed up the wall. Fortunately the dragon was focussing all its efforts on moving its tattered wings and still hadn't noticed the swordsman catching up to it. She was feeling increasingly nervous for the boy so opted to look at the dragon's health bar instead, which was dropping slightly with each flap of its wings. It was going to become red soon…

She heard Cobert yelling at the rest of the players to 'stop gawking and start shooting' when a shriek tore her gaze away from the boss's information window.

Monsters were dropping out of the sky.

* * *

_What the hell?_ Kirito wanted to scream as he slashed at one of the lizard beasts falling out of the sky, and would've if he wasn't trying to sneak up on the boss. He almost lost his footing again when another lizard shot a mouthful of purple acid at him. A small drop landed on the wall near his feet and left a scorch mark. He swore, swinging his sword again to keep his feet on the wall and looked behind him. The seven lizards had their limbs stretched out, the flaps under their arms keeping them from falling too quickly. They were spitting venom at the players below with accuracy. Although the targets either dodged the liquid or held up their shields, he knew that eventually, one of the drops would find its target and…

He shook his head and drew a throwing knife from a leather belt strapped from his left shoulder down to his right hip. The array of knives was a drop from a rare woodpecker mob and the weapons had great piercing power. With a flick of his wrist, Kirito targeted the lizard nearest the ground. The knife hit the back of its head and one of the bullets the players were shooting hit a fatal area by chance, finishing it. Kirito breathed out as the boss continued flying. Either it didn't hear the shattering or it didn't care if his fellow reptiles died.

_Of course it doesn't. _

Kirito felt his usual wildness start to take over again and he let it. In one last burst of speed, he was above the dragon. Its yellow eyes met his black ones and it seemed to falter for a second. The balance disrupted, its health dropped a bit more quickly as one of its wings tore. Pushing off the wall and doing half a somersault, his sword glowed as he activated a piercing skill and let gravity bring him down near the dragon's head before thrusting it between the boss' eyes. He met no resistance as his blade dug deep into the skull beneath the scaly skin. The wings flapped one last time before the huge body went limp and they started to fall. The players beneath him quickly moved out of the way as the dragon fell onto the surviving poison-spewing lizards and they all crashed onto the ground. The smaller monsters shattered immediately upon impact. Everyone watched the green dragon intently as it let out one last human-like moan and finally shattered.

The shards rained down on the black-clad swordsman. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. For a second, he looked close to falling, but opened his eyes again almost immediately. He ignored the 'Congratulations' window that appeared and turned around sharply. As he passed Asuna, he leaned in closer to whisper in her ear.

'Go activate the fifth floor for me.'

He made to leave but felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see the chest-nut haired girl looking at him with her hand out. She quickly pulled it away, blushing.

'O-ok…' She managed.

Kirito smiled sadly and glanced at the surviving players.

'If you ever have to, choose the right leader to follow.' He said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. They all knew he was referring to Sigurd.

'I will.' Asuna assured him.

He looked at Yuuki and then continued to walk toward the double doors that led him back into the dungeons.

Of course, Kibaou just had to choose that time to appear. His eyes fell onto Kirito, then the players, then at the lack of monsters. He strode up to him.

'You! Did you…You dragged all these players into this?'

From the back of the group, Sigurd emerged, fully-recovered.

'I told you he was doing that!' He snickered.

His guild members opened their mouth to protest but before they could, Kirito appeared in front of the green haired man, causing him to jump in alarm, and grabbed his collar. Hatred obvious in his eyes, he glared at him.

'If you are going to be a guild leader,' He said through clenched teeth, 'then take responsibility for all your guild members.'

'What are you doing?' Kibaou growled as he approached them.

Kirito let go of Sigurd roughly before staring coldly at the cactus-head.

'Disciplining your friend.' He answered.

He looked back at the nine remaining players, who nodded at him in thanks, even Cobert. Throwing a last warning glance at Sigurd, he swept past the newly-arrived group and out of the room.

Without a word, Asuna turned the other way and opened the other set of double doors to unlock the fifth floor.

* * *

**AN: And here is chapter 7… I'm hoping that there won't be too many things happening next chapter so Luna can make her grand entrance… I'm sorry for making this whole chapter the boss fight… 2000 something words isn't enough but I can't manage to write longer… But right now… PLEASE REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 8 Meetings and Reunions (1)

**AN: What a nightmare, I can't believe I updated so late! **

**(Kirito jumps up with his sword and screams) YOU HAVE NEGLECTED ME!**

**(Bows hurriedly and begs for forgiveness) I'M SORRRRYYYYY!)**

**Yuuki: Hey don't do that! (Fakes a cheery smile) Go Whiskers!**

**Me: AAAAHHHHHH! (Gets torn apart)**

**(Magically revives looking like a mummy)**

**Believe it or not, I'm still figuring out the story line… though I've got enough going to know a bit of what to write next… Let's hope I get at least five reviews for this chapter… Plz give me some ideas!**

**Thank you to ****Kojiro Kun for contributing OCs! I included one of them in this chapter (My favourite actually since he's a solo player too :)) and it won't be his only appearance. **

**Enjoy! Warning: OC**

**Chapter 8- Meetings and Reunions (1)**

_10__th__ January 2023_

**Orleague Town, Mainland**

Asuna sidled down the gap between the store's shelves of weapons, her finger running along the glass cases containing the guns. She had replaced her beginner's equipment long ago with better weapons and armour, though she was still lacking a gun. It just didn't seem important to her before–until she tried out the 'Bullet-dodging Game' at the front of this NPC store.

The challenge was to get to the gunman fifty metres from the starting line, avoiding the paint balls he shot. She had failed to do so, though she did beat the record of twenty metres. He would shoot six 'bullets' and then reload, and shoot again. She was only ten metres away, almost pressed against a wall when the man altered his rhythm and one of the paint balls grazed past her shoulder and hit the wall. The 'bullet' exploded and a small amount of paint splashed onto her legs–acting as bullet fragments, the NPC at the entrance had said with a smile–and she had failed.

Asuna prided herself in her speed, using fast and deadly jabs and slashes with her rapier, but a gun had managed to stop her. Moreover, she didn't have any long-distance weapons though her stats definitely allowed her many choices. Frowning, she continued searching for a gun.

* * *

_**Dragons Inn, Prosperous Valley, Mainland**_

Kirito rested his head on his arms and stared at the egg on the table in front of him. The egg's information and stats were all 'unknown', including the incubation time, so he had went about his usual routine for almost a week, hoping for it to hatch. He thought he might have to reach the level the fourth boss was at since it was dropped by it so he'd vigorously ploughed through mob after mob of monster. When he finally did reach his goal, nothing happened. He tried other things too, but to no avail, which was why he had been staring at it for the last ten minutes. If the egg had a consciousness, it would've squirmed.

He examined the virtual object before him, frowning and trying to figure it out. It was close to the size of his head, black with white scratch marks all over it. Looking more closely, there was another mark underneath the messy scratches but he couldn't see it clearly. Sighing heavily, he finally released the egg from his merciless staring and sat back on the couch. He was renting a room in an inn like usual. He sighed again when he remembered the house he had rented in the beta test. It made him wonder why his circumstances at the moment were so different. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure there **was **no reason. He had enough col, there were houses available since most players didn't have enough money. So basically he had been so involved in levelling up that he had forgotten his personal comfort? It made him want to laugh.

A rolling sound came from the table and he looked down to see that the egg was on its side. Perplexed, the swordsman straightened it.

* * *

_Oh shit._ The AI thought as the black-haired player continued to stare at her.

But seriously, his thoughts were just so frustrating!_ Who the hell forgets that it is way better to sleep on a soft, comfortable bed than a hard, lumpy one? _And she knew that inn beds were, in fact, hard and lumpy, from personal experience. _And he was thinking of LAUGHING?_

Luckily, he dismissed the matter pretty quickly this time and went back to daydreaming on the couch, totally ignoring the egg on the table as he drifted off into his own thoughts.

Typical Kirito-kun…

* * *

It was a while before he realised that he had fallen asleep. Again. He glanced out the window to see that it was already afternoon. Sighing and combing his hand through his hair, he yawned and glanced lazily at the object on the table before deciding that it would be best for him to forget about it for the moment. He could always think about it later. He nodded to himself and used his right hand to drag down the air in front of him.

He looked at the window and frowned. He looked at the egg's info screen and frowned again, this time more intensely, and he repeated the action several times until his mind registered what was happening.

Kirito's got a problem.

The egg won't go back to the inventory. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find the option on the window to do it. Frustrated, he threw up his hands and once again sat back in his couch. He drummed his fingers on the armrest and sat there for a while until he turned around with a glint in his eye.

_Then, maybe I can sell it? I doubt it's going to do anything anyway…_

* * *

_Whaaaattttt? He's thinking of selling me?!_

* * *

'Or maybe not… No one's going to buy an egg that they are going to have to carry around…since it won't go into their inventories…'

* * *

_Phew! Wait… WHAT KIND OF STUPID REASON IS THAT?_

* * *

In the end, he ended up using one of the cloth bags that the common mobs dropped and making some sort of portable 'nest' for the egg to sit in. Since inventories existed, most players didn't use bags unless they needed to carry crystals for emergency uses. He hoped that it would hatch soon; he was getting more weird glances than he did already when he walked along the street, especially when the egg was in such a bad condition. Unfortunately, its durability was also unknown, though he suspected from the scratches that not much of it would be left, so he would have to be careful with it in case it just disappeared. Despite everything else, he was still curious as to what the egg would hatch into.

Stepping out of the Teleportation Gates onto the fourth floor of Haze, he walked along the memorised route towards the woods at the top of the cliffs in Calm Lake. It's a popular taming ground since the monsters were mostly really submissive. The area is relatively easy in late mornings and early afternoons, but gets harder when there is less sunlight. When all traces of the day disappears, the monsters in the area get a +10 on five of their stats with the speed getting an extra boost of +15. The monsters also change from 'quite docile' to 'extremely ferocious' as quoted from the guide he had written. Because of this, the area is quickly deserted from four to five o'clock and is usually completely empty at night, which was why Kirito liked the place.

Kirito arrived there just before 3pm, hoping for there to be some mobs left. He blinked. Rarely venturing there in the daylight, he was surprised by the woods' transformation. It looked so different. He could see the snow-covered branches standing, almost immobile, the thin vines hung limply on the trunks and branches, thin with cold. The birds that never sang after nightfall merrily whistled their favourite tune and flied above the trees. Small animals (healing beasts) jumped from tree to tree or scuttled across the ground, which was littered with the leaves from the short month of autumn at the start of the game. And perhaps the biggest difference of all, players' voices came from the woods, not just the eerie silence that he had become so accustomed to. He placed his foot down lightly on the ground, he walked along one of the lesser-used 'tracks', pausing once in a while to take in the sweet scent exuding from the trees. That is, until a beast wandered into his path, oblivious to the swordsman just metres from him. Sniffing around, it finally noticed a foreign presence around it and slowly turned its head. They stood there, staring at each other for god knows how long before the AI of the pig-like monster decided that the player in front of them was an enemy and it charged toward him. Having had more than enough time to prepare, Kirito dodged nimbly to one side, drew his sword, and struck down at the pig's moving body. His blade dug through the virtual flesh and hit its spine, winding it. The fatty lump crashed onto the floor and grunted as another slash planted itself deep into its side as soon as it came into contact with the ground. All it managed to do next was flail its legs a little before going limp and disappearing. Kirito, meanwhile, was having a staring contest with a rhino mob before they too chose to attack, lowering their strangely shaped horns. He danced through the charging herd. The beasts all growled in unison as they felt a knife buried in the side of their necks. He then slashed at the injured monsters with his sword while they were still recovering from their last attack. The grey beasts were now shuffling from one foot to another, as if unsure what to do. Kirito used the opportunity to strike and they shattered one after another, not even knowing what hit them. Patting the egg at his side to reassure himself that it was still there, he continued along the overgrown path.

Examining his map, he made his way towards one of the areas containing the 'Giant Ant Mob'. The monsters had powerful attacks but low defence. One of them could take little more damage than a rhino beast despite being three levels higher. As long as Kirito wasn't hit, which he was confident he wouldn't be, they were be easy to deal with and offered a considerable amount of experience points and sometimes, rare drops.

As Kirito made his way deeper into the mass of trees, the noise around him continued to die down. Even though the woods were located on top of a cliff, as in 'located completely on high land', it's more like it's the only thing there. If you walked out of the woods from the eastern, western and southern sides, you will be faced with a sheer drop. The cliff angled less than ninety degrees from the surface of Calm Lake. The only way out was a mountain path on the northern end. Of course, if you were stupid enough, you could jump off the end and swim the one kilometre required to reach dry land, assuming that you didn't die in the process. All in all, it's like a lonely peninsula completely covered by trees. As well as the unique monsters, it was one of the four reasons why players didn't like to go there at night or in the early morning–with only one escape route if anything bad happened, it was too dangerous. There were also the usual rumours concerning a ghost.

He heard a faint shriek from his left.

The other reason was, well, it just wasn't a good idea to wander around BTO in the dark.

It wasn't a good idea to wander around BTO anyway

–is what Kirito thought when he sprinted grimly in the direction of the noise.

* * *

The brown haired player looked up from examining the drops he had gained. He had heard a cry in the trees somewhere to his right and he was certain it wasn't a monster's. The voice had also sounded very young, like from a little girl. _Why would a player like that be so deep in the woods at night? Could it be a quest NPC?_

Frowning, he turned towards the source of the noise, his hand on the gun at his side. A soft flicker came from his left, almost unnoticeable because of the mist. He edged forward cautiously. Another flicker flashed through the greyness and suddenly, the mist retreated, away from where he was. Soon, he found himself looking around at the usual clump of trees that had been obscured from his vision less than a minute ago. The mist had now formed a gassy wall around the area, which was dark from the lack of sunlight that could filter through the fog. The curling tendrils cast shadows on the trees, seeming to only illuminate the dark crevices in the bark so that they seemed to grow eyes and stare at him. Shivering unconsciously, he scanned the area, eyes running over the bushes and branches, searching for the one who had screamed, though he was starting to think that he may have imagined it. There was not a soul in sight. He continued his half-hearted search. His gaze brushed past a tree on the far side. Something caught his eye. Something that stood out among its dark surroundings– whiteness, glowing faintly. His eyes travelled upwards and he silently took in the pale face framed by a head of dark hair. She wore no shoes, her bare feet rubbing on the rough ground, but she didn't seem to notice. Instead, she looked very tired. Suddenly, he heard soft footsteps to his left. _Not a monster,_ he noted. The footsteps were too soft for the large fighter beasts that roamed the part of the woods he was in. Sure enough, a short, black haired player burst through the wall of mist carrying a torn bag. Their eyes met for a second before the newly arrived boy decided to ignore him, his eyes falling onto the young girl almost twenty metres away. Straightening his posture, the new player assessed the exhausted girl much like he had before.

* * *

Kirito sensed rather than saw the player a few metres in front of him. It struck him as strange that the person wasn't moving.

_Was she injured? _He recalled the strangled cry from before and thought that it was quite likely. His hand reached into his coat to the knives sheathed on the leather strap strapped over his shoulder down to his hip.

To his surprise, the dense mist abruptly ended and he found himself staring into the eyes of another male player. He doubted that he was the one that had screamed so let his eyes travel across the entire area until finally he saw a little girl standing by herself under a tree. She couldn't have been more than ten years old, with long black hair and pale skin that almost glowed in the dark.

Kirito inhaled. So that was the so-called ghost? She certainly looked like one with the white dress and pale complexion. Slowly, he drew his hand away from the knives, deciding that there was no immediate threat. He knew he could draw his sword the second he senses danger.

As Kirito straightened into a standing position, the girl wobbled a bit, letting out a faint whimper. At the same time, the egg fell through the torn bag that he hadn't had a chance to replace yet. Everything was silent for a second before the game object started rolling along the uneven ground, unnaturally riding up and over the trees' roots. Kirito watched it move, hands seemingly frozen. It created a humming noise which kept going until finally, the egg nudged the girl's foot, rousing her from her trance. The girl tilted her head down, ever so slowly and she knelt, laying her tiny hands on the cool, scratched shell, stroking it gently. She then picked it up, cradling it in her arms. Her hands trembled from the effort of lifting something, but she clung onto the damaged egg anyway. She was obviously very, very tired. She whispered something. The words were caught in the breeze so Kirito couldn't hear her. The wind picked up and a huge gust blew through the trees, causing him to shield his eyes from the spiralling dust. Then, just as suddenly as it had moved, the air stilled and both players saw that the girl was no longer there. And she had taken the egg with her.

* * *

**AN: And so concludes the introduction of the OC and the little girl which I hope you all know who it is. This is Part one of 'Meetings and Reunions'.**

**And… Luna doesn't appear in this chapter… **

**Kirito: But you probably all know what's coming up, what with the egg and the chapter title.**

**Me: Is it that obvious?**

**Egg sweat drops**

To Kojiro Kun:

Do not fear, I will give Rook (Yes, yes that's the OC's name) a pet in later chapters though probably not any time soon.

**Press the review button and comment! From the next chapter I will be answering all reviews! (Unless there are too many ( I hope that happens) which I will then choose the more beneficial (To you) ones and PM the rest.)**

**As usual, I'm open to ideas, comments and…er….anything that I can improve!**


	10. Chapter 9 Meetings and Reunions (2)

**AN: I'm so sorry, but I'm going to hold off Luna's appearance. 'Meetings and Reunions' may continue on for a while (maybe until part 5?)**

**This chapter is quite short… I'm suffering from jetlag and writer's block… GREAT! **(Not) **I'm thinking of starting a new story... starring my beloved Kirito of course! A crossover maybe… **

**Reki Kawahara: KIRITO IS MINE!**

**Me: Why must you do this to me?! *Runs off to cry in corner***

* * *

**Chapter 9-Meetings and Reunions (2)**

As soon as the wind died down, the mist started lifting, and before long, it was clear enough to see more than ten metres around them. Kirito glanced at the player next to him and wondered if he should say something; the silence was getting awkward. Luckily, not everyone had the same communication skills as Kirito and he did not need to worry about that problem.

'Hi… Um… I'm Rook. Nice to meet you.'

'I'm Kirito.' Kirito answered, secretly relieved.

'So, uh… Do you have any idea what just happened?' Despite the man's uncertain words, he held himself confidently. His posture seemed relaxed, though if you looked closely, you would see that his muscles were tense.

'Yeah. That girl took my egg.'

'Oh'

'…'

Pity the one Rook was talking to **was** Kirito, for the silence settled in once again as the mist continued to curl back towards the sky. The two stood there, each wondering what they were supposed to do in such a situation. It was night, after all. Although both were tempted to just leave, neither knew of the other's capabilities. From the weapons and equipment, it was safe to assume they were both above average players. But Kirito, not wanting to attract attention, hadn't equipped his best. Rook guessed that the other was of lower level than he, and therefore it wasn't a good thing for him to go alone. Kirito on the other hand, was busy trying to decide the most polite way of leaving since, he reasoned, if a player was in the woods, they wouldn't have gone unprepared, right?

Unluckily, or luckily, a gorilla mob growled from behind them, rousing them from their thoughts. Kirito's hand automatically went to the hilt of his sword and quickly drew it when he saw the threat.

'The Gellows, one of the largest beasts that inhabit the fourth floor. Most common at night when there is no wind. Known for their loud voice and inability to remain discreet.'Rook said, loudly enough for Kirito to hear.

The said player smiled. 'Well, they certainly gave their position away.' He caught some movement from trees to his left. 'Seems like we have other company.' A flurry of wings later, he saw that this time it was a group of bats. Bloodsucking ones. The bats were healer beasts, but the vicious kind. He heard Rook sigh from next to him.

'Shit. Those are a pain.'

'…

'Yeah, they are.' Kirito agreed, a relaxed grip on his sword as the first of the gorillas charged, or rather, knuckle-walked, towards him. From the corner of his vision, he saw Rook tense his shoulders and roll them back a bit, as if there were a weapon on his back, and then turned back to eye the approaching monster. Despite its size, it moved quite quickly and was already within his thrust range. Kirito stepped away from the tree behind him, knowing that otherwise he would be disadvantaged, and activated a sword skill. The gorilla altered its course to face him and lifted its hands from the ground, charging only with its feet. Fist met blade. He only met little resistance as his sword cut into the beast's tough flesh and split open its arm up to the elbows. It yelped in pain, causing Kirito to narrow his eyes slightly at the screechy noise. Gunshots sounded from behind him, accurately hitting their flying targets. It was all he had time to notice in his brief moment of recovery before he attacked again, this time at a much faster pace, darting to and fro, dealing blows at the confused monsters. Occasionally, he would flick a knife towards the ones further away before ducking a punch and countering with a jab of his own. Soon, the air was filled with the sounds of shattering as the gorillas died one after one.

* * *

Rook stared at the swordsman, his eyes barely following the dark shape flitting through the approaching mob and marvelling at his graceful movements. Unfortunately, the bats decided that they would interrupt him by trying to sink their teeth into his arm. Irritated, he pulled a dagger from the folds of his jacket and, with one smooth movement, sliced through their fragile wings, causing several to fall to the ground. Smiling grimly, he stomped on the one nearest to his foot and twirled his gun in his hand before picking out the rude bats one by one. They dropped like apples from a tree and, injured, were taken out pretty quickly. He was so into it that he forgot the reason that the species was such a pain–they travelled in big groups. Big as in ENORMOUS. As if on cue, a buzzing noise sounded from several metres before him. He looked up, fearing the worst. There were so many that he couldn't see into the trees. Cursing under his breath, he used up his remaining bullets quickly before unhooking an (extremely expensive) grenade from his belt. As he touched it, a small window appeared on its side with 'activate' and the number '10' on it. He pressed the screen with his thumb before bringing his arm back in a practised motion. As the grenade glowed green, he bent his arm and flung it at the enemy. He didn't look happy when it exploded in the centre of the mass, scattering and shattering the mob of attackers.

_My poor poor col…_

* * *

Kirito spun around in time for the blast in the centre of the group of bats, causing dust to fly into his eyes. Blinking rapidly, he almost blindly (Kirito would never do _anything_ blindly) threw a few knives at the less fazed beasts before dashing forward and dispatching more of them with his sword. The bats managed to nip at his skin and though his _Battle Healing _almost completely negated his loss of HP, the numbness from his wounds was uncomfortable. He concealed a sigh of relief when the last of the mob shattered, ghostly shards passing through his body. He turned slightly and glanced at the player behind him. Rook was reloading his pistol. His gaze continued around the trees, eyes straining a little in the darkness. The vegetation was quite far apart from each other and he was grateful for the silvery light the virtual moon provided. All was still and silent except for the scuttling of the occasional harmless squirrel wandering around after their curfew.

'I think we should go.' Kirito said softly.

'Yeah, we should.' Rook agreed, sheathing his gun and crossing his arms. 'It's getting cold too.'

As if by some hidden signal, both players turned and walked back to the shortest track that would lead them from the dark woods.

* * *

_11__th__ January 2023, 02:30_

_**Darers Dome, Fourth Floor, Haze**_

Asuna fingered the pistol on her lap, tracing the smooth barrel with her finger. She was sitting on the steps leading to a huge cathedral, staring intently at her Glock 19. Old, but well, who cares? It was a beautiful thing; small but comfortably heavy. Her hands fit perfectly on the grip, fingers sliding into the shallow grooves. She'd decided with the standard magazine of 15 bullets, trusting herself for making the right choice. The metal felt cold in her hands, a reminder to her that she was playing a Death Game; that she couldn't afford any sort of mistake because the world was _real_, at least to the players. It wasn't a terrible nightmare, nor a strange hallucination; they were IN THE GAME, and for all she cared, nothing was really 'fake' anymore. A knife could kill her here as well as any knife would in the real world. A few months ago, if someone had told her she would be buying a gun and going off to kill some random leopard man or hippo-like monster, she would probably have laughed and told the person than he or she was crazy and think of it as a stupid joke.

_Everything was safe back then. _

She slid her hand over the gun, touching the trigger softly. She also had mixed feelings about the game. If she hadn't started playing BTO that day… She drew a sharp intake of breath and shook her head vigorously.

How had admiring her gun turned into a moping session?

* * *

Kirito dragged his feet along the road. Yes, THE Kirito was _dragging his feet_ along the road. But at the moment, he couldn't care less. His lack of sleep was turning him insomniac and he had used up most of his reserve of strength on the fourth floor earlier. The most important thing at the moment was to find an inn… tavern…whatever… It could be a haystack for all he cared. Or maybe not. He remembered there was one somewhere around here (Not the haystack; an inn)… He glanced around the empty streets and shops, trying to see the tell-tale lights from one of them, trying to hear something vaguely resembling a laugh of players drinking away. He sighed as he met no such luck. Fate seemed intent on playing against him these days.

_First I lose the egg… and now this?_ Kirito thought incredulously. He swore that all the taverns in his vicinity must have moved away to some distant faraway land... He quickened his pace, although he knew his speed would slow again after a while. He glanced back at his map. None of the inns opened by NPCs were in the area and most player-opened ones hadn't had a chance to put their location on the map yet… especially on the fifth floor. Maybe he should have stayed on the floor above after all? But it was easier to get up and then go straight to training…

_Argh…_

His head was pounding numbly. The game didn't have the 'pain' feature otherwise it wouldn't have passed the tests before it was released and people wouldn't have bought it, but that didn't prevent people from feeling nauseous or dizzy, which is what Kirito felt now. He was relieved that it was winter, for he felt sure he would faint if it had been the middle of the year, if fainting was possible in BTO. He supposed it was since you could sleep and that was almost the same thing…

But that wasn't the point. The point was that Kirito's head was feeling real bad and he needed to get to an inn–fast, and then get the sleep he deserved. He made the nearest inn his destination and plodded towards it, a sour look on his face.

* * *

**Reviews:**

**xbamsod:** Haha I agree… Actually I was debating with myself whether I should get make the girl leave the egg there or for her to take it away…and as you can see, I ended up with the latter… But I will definitely (somehow) manipulate the story to make it work :)

**Kojiro Kun: **I enjoyed writing the egg interaction though I was afraid that I was getting carried away =_= for I seem to do that a lot… As for the ideas… haha…you can wait and see :)

**MrSnowmizer: **Thank you for the nice comment! I truly didn't think Luna was going to be such a popular character -.-… Actually, I had planned a completely different scene but then I changed it to lead up to what you guys like :) Though I guess it doesn't really change the main plot much…

**DaughteroftheRedKing:** Hahahaha *Shifty look* shhhhhh…

**jacksonpotterridefan101:** *Ducks flying object* I'm SOWEEEE!

**Garm: **Thanks! And here it is :)

**Sniper of Pucca:** Yes it is indeed about time for Kirito to get his companion back…

**Sniper of Puca:** Do you have an account in fanfic? I will PM you about the OC if you do… But I can't let the reviews section be longer than the story…

* * *

**AN: I have decided to respond to reviews by PM after all… Readers have to wait too long for responses otherwise…**

**Anyway, R&R please!**


	11. Chapter 10 Meetings and Reunions (3)

**AN: I apologise for thinking of such an uncreative place name as Calm Lake/Peninsula/Cliffs, especially since most parts of the story so far take place there… But when I first thought of it, I hadn't thought I'd end up using the place so much = =||| so bear with me for a while?**

**Warning: New OCs but only to show Kirito's coolness :)**

* * *

**Chapter 10-Meetings and Reunions (3)**

_**Outside Holders Gates, Fourth Floor, Haze, 4:00am**_

Asuna kicked at a stray pebble on the path and continued walking. She was too awake to go back to the tavern and had already sent a message to Yuuki about meeting her for breakfast and for her not to worry too much. It was almost dawn already anyway so she figured she'd do some light training. Perhaps two hours or so before heading back. She would also be able to try out her new gun. Picturing the floor's layout in her head, she thought Calm Lake was an appropriate option since it wasn't far out of town. Despite her previous opinions about training there, it was still better than most of the other places she could go to. In fact, if she was quick enough, she could maybe even work her way to the woods on the peninsula. Nodding to herself, she increased her pace, intent on reaching her destination in minimal time.

Calm Lake was surrounded by flat plains, making it possible for Asuna to see the glittering body of water from more than a mile away. A mountain-like land mass with a flat top reached towards the centre of the circular surface. She could see that the edges of the peninsula went straight down into the lake. It looked like a box floating in water.

She arrived on the banks unexpectedly quickly so decided to walk up the paths leading up to the woods. Somehow, despite the floor having three other floors stacked on top of it, it was starting to get brighter, artificial sunlight tinting the sky pretty shades of pink and purple. Asuna strolled idly up the mountain path on the north of the lake, head tilted slightly back to admire the view over the wood's treetops. Once she reached the mass of trees, she chose the route that cut straight through the wood's centre. It would be less confusing if Asuna ever got lost; she would be able to just head south to exit the place, provided she doesn't stray too much from her course.

There weren't actually that many trees on Calm Peninsula. What made it possible for the woods to cover such a large area was because the trees were positioned quite far apart from each other, with bushes or flat ground sharing the remaining space. That and their immense size. They easily tripled the height of the tallest boss so far and their trunks were more than two-metres wide. If one were to hollow out an entire tree and position a few gigantic slinky apples inside, it would make for a slide that can fit adults in it without them feeling uncomfortable or cramped. And that was only the averaged sized trees.

Anyway…

Asuna was thinking nothing like that at the moment since she was fighting a very persistent giant moth mob (and screaming her head off). A few of the flying bugs covered her with the dust from their wings before they were stabbed by the near-hysterical fifteen-year old girl. Not a pleasant experience for either of them. Now, when she finally calmed down, she realised that she had left the track she was following. Asuna tried to recall which way she came from but it was a futile effort. Sighing, the girl opened her menu window and pressed the _Map/Quests_ option. Brushing her finger against _Field Map_, she looked around quickly. Satisfied that there were no monsters in the area at the moment, she cautiously scanned the map, all the while keeping an eye out for any disturbances. A green mark displayed her location and she was relieved to see that there was a path only fifty metres to her right. After reaching the track, she could just follow it south. From the corner of her vision, Asuna saw that it was already past five o'clock. If she didn't start heading back soon, Yuuki was going to get worried. Drawing her rapier, she turned and angled towards the path, using her blade to cut through the occasional vine that delayed her progress. The track was only a few metres away when she heard a rustling sound. Halting and straightening slowly, she looked at her surroundings, weapons raised. Something rustled again, only closer this time. Even with her hearing, she couldn't determine in which direction the noise came from. She took a step forward, eyes darting around. The sound came for the third time, and Asuna had less than a second to prepare for the attack from above. Her instinct made her jump to the side at the last moment. Something sharp grazed her legs, carving a long orange wound on her thigh and caused her HP to decrease. She broke her fall with her unoccupied hand and used the momentum from her dodge to spin around and skid backwards to face the enemy, putting distance between them at the same time. Several pairs of yellow eyes stared back at her. The owners of those terrible slitted pupils hung from the tree branches, forked tongues sliding in and out of their mouths. Their huge, long bodies, curled around the thick bark, as if strangling it.

In other words, they were really big snakes.

* * *

Kirito tiredly rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. He yawned and stretched. That worked a little better. After renting an inn room, he'd immediately collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to change or put his sword away. It was a good thing that virtual clothes couldn't get creased; else they would have needed serious ironing. His head still hurt but it was better than it had been earlier that morning. He'd only got a few hours sleep but his fatigue ensured him a deep slumber. He felt better than he had in a while. Standing up slowly, Kirito walked to the sink and splashed some water onto his face. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he saw that his eyes were a little red but otherwise ok. The cool liquid brushed off his last desires for more rest and, with a last check of his room, the boy walked downstairs to eat his breakfast.

As expected, the tavern had less than ten people in it. There were also a few different types of lizards curling lazily by the fireside. The winter weather made most players, as well as pets, want to burrow into their warm blankets for a little longer than usual. The swordsman was grateful for this–he wasn't overly fond of crowded places. Choosing a table on the corner of the room, Kirito silently walked towards it and sat down. An NPC waiter walked up to him to take his order. Usually, he didn't like using his col on anything other than the necessities, but it hardly mattered if it was only once in a while. After placing his order of pancakes with maple syrup, he shifted in his seat for a more comfortable position. The boy sighed and looked around. Soon, with the lack of anything to do, he found himself studying the players in the room. There were all males, which was hardly surprising since BTO was more popular among that gender. Ages varied, but Kirito suspected that most of them would've been computer freaks much like himself back in the real world. Guarillium City was surrounded by training grounds so the players all held equipment and weapons suitable for fighting. Guns requiring a particular amount of STR were especially common, it seemed. He watched quietly as one of the more heavy-set men started bragging about the monsters he'd slain.

'It was, wha', five metres tall? Most of the others ran away.' The last part triggered some protests from the audience. 'But I stayed, I stayed a'right and shot bulle' after bulle' at its head. And it went DOWN…!' It was obvious he was drunk. The man stood up, soaking in his (probably) guild member's cheers. 'Aye, aye, Gertrand!' His friend said, holding up another cup and downing it. Fuuny how being drunk gets you to talk like you lived in the olden days. The man, Gertrand, laughed loudly and slung an arm around the other man's shoulders. Then, he seemed to notice something and laughed even harder. He let go of his friend and approached a table opposite side of Kirito. The dark-haired teen peered through his bangs at the players as the waiter arrived with his food. He hadn't noticed anyone other than them in the room.

'Hello~ babe….' He heard Gertrand slur his words. As the others moved to stand by the man, Kirito saw through a gap that there was a girl sitting there with her back to him. A sword lay on the table next to her so as to not get in the way when she sat. She looked familiar. 'Come here…' The man said flirtatiously. 'We… can have some fuuunnn.'

The girl did not look at all amused and tried to ignore him, except it was kind of hard with his hands at-the-wrong-places.

'Can you please go away?' She said it so softly that Kirito almost couldn't hear her, but he did catch the threatening tone pretty well. _Definitely familiar._

The man, however, did not and proceeded with his drunken voice. 'Awww… C'mon! Don't spoil the fun.'

The girl bristled.

_Yuuki?_

* * *

The girl flinched when the man's hand travelled downwards from the small of her back.

'Can you please go away?' She said, a dangerous note in her voice. If the man knew her well, he would've backed off immediately and kneeled, pleading for forgiveness. But Yuuki wouldn't know a man as stupid as him anyway. Her eye twitched when the man started whining stupidly again. Her hand approached the sword on her table but one of his followers saw and quickly snatched it away.

'Now, now.' He cooed. 'A delicate _princess_ like you shouldn't be playing with sharp things.'

Yuuki almost snorted at that. _Delicate?_

Mr Stupid guffawed. 'Bwahahaha! That's right, oujo-sama! You won't get hurt that way! Now just be obedient and come with us!' He jerked her up by the arm while the man from before clamped his hand on her elbow joint, causing numbness to spread through the limb. A harassment window popped up. If she could press it then the two men holding her would automatically be sent to prison. She was confident that she could break from the grip, but the odds were a problem… They had seven people while she was by herself. Not the best of situations especially when she and Asuna had agreed to keep low profiles. She looked for the NPC, but then recalled that the waiter went to make more drinks for the group. The man jerked her arm again, so that she had to plant her feet as firmly on the ground as she could to not fall onto his chest.

'Don't you think you're going too far.' A calm voice spoke.

Everyone turned to see a player dressed in black sitting at a table near the stairs. She gasped, eyes wide with recognition.

* * *

The man pulled the girl toward him but Yuuki had pretty high STR stats herself and held her ground. Kirito had no doubt that she was more than capable of escaping, but there was a limit to even what he could stand and when all seven men started to close in, that was when he snapped.

'Don't you think you're going too far.' He asked, or rather, stated, coldly. All eight eyes turned towards him then and he saw Yuuki almost gaping at him.

The-piece-of-scum-named-Gertrand was the first to recover. 'Who're you?' He snarled. What he saw in his eyes was an over confident boy trying to look cool.

'Didn't your 'kaa-san teach you to introduce yourself before asking the names of others?' Kirito said mildly.

The man scowled. 'Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?'

Kirito raised an eyebrow. 'Didn't I say that you should introduce yourself first?'

That angered the man even more. 'You bastard.' he turned his head and nodded in his direction. 'Jaque.'

'Yes. Boss.' A slightly round man stepped forward from behind and drew a long dagger from his waist. He held it in front of him menacingly. 'Now, shall we play, little boy?' His mates cheered at this.

'Yeah!' One said. 'It's a safe area so it doesn't matter!' A few others were laughing just as loudly as their leader.

Jaque smiled. As he advanced further, his smile widened. 'My…Aren't you a pretty pretty boy? Tell you what, why don't you join us?'

Kirito now looked pityingly at the man. 'You really are low, aren't you?'

The corners of the man's lips remained where they were. 'You brat.' He had reached table by then, and waved the dagger in front of Kirito. 'You really do have a _pretty_ little face.' He slurred.

'Yeah. I look like a girl, don't I?' The swordsman answered.

'You really do…' The man mused, chuckling.

'Then I suggest you leave.' Kirito said, unfazed by the blade the player was holding.

'And why would I do that?' Jaque put on an expression of curiosity.

'Because,' Kirito smiled innocently. 'Wouldn't it be _really_ humiliating if you were beaten by a person who looked like a girl?'

The man laughed outright and turned back to his leader. 'Did you hear that? He said he cou–' He never got to finish the sentence as Kirito kicked him in the side. Jaque tumbled a fair way before landing in the middle of the room.

'What is so amusing?' Kirito asked dangerously, smile gone. The black-clad player stood up and slowly approached the leader of the group.

'G-get him!' Gertrand ordered, stuttering. The six other men pulled out their respective guns and started to shoot.

The boy continued to advance, ignoring the bullets that hit him. He stopped before the leader. 'Are you going to let her go? Or… Do you prefer for me to do it for you?'

'You…' The leader snarled. 'You're only a kid! How dare you!' he drew took the axe one of his men was holding and swung at Kirito's head. He dodged easily, before closing the remaining distance between them and twisting both Yuuki and the weapon from his grasp. The enraged man swung a punch at the swordsman–or where he was before. Kirito had vanished.

'AHHGGHH!' Gertrand spun around to see his men sprawled on the ground. He saw the multiple wounds on them before the system erased the damage. Kirito tensed, sword in hand, for the last attack but Yuuki was faster and already had the guild leader under her foot.

The NPC chose this time to come back.

'Hey.' Kirito said. 'Can you take care of these people?'

The waiter nodded, face emotionless. The men whimpered pitifully as they were taken away. The lizards blinked as their masters were taken away but chose the warmth of the fire over the mean men.

Once they were all gone, Yuuki spoke.

'I could've taken care of them, you know…' She muttered under her breath.

'Of course you could've.'

'Was Kirito being _sarcastic_ just then?'

'No… I really think you could've handled it.'

'…'

'What?'

Yuuki face palmed.

* * *

**AN: Let's just say I have not the slightest idea how everything was going to link together… I mean, I had a **_**general**_** plan on how the story's going to progress but I tend to think stuff up when I type things and then everything ends up making no sense… causing the problem of me having to retype everything more than once… I'm sorry I had to cut off here…**

**And…**

**DOES ANYONE KNOW IF COMPASSES EXIST IN SAO OR ALO OR ANY VR ONLINE GAME by Reki? Or anything to tell the direction? I've been prodding around and I can't seem to find anything about it… Oh, and if a player can materialise a map and hold it or if it just stays on the screen…If anyone knows please tell me!**

**Please Review!**


	12. Chapter 11 Meetings and Reunions (4)

**AN: Releases may be slower from now on… School and that stuff. Shortest chapter I've written so far… 1100 words… But there's something else I put at the bottom if you want to read it.**

**Chapter 11-Meetings and Reunions (4)**

The snake dove into the ground, drilling a hole where she had been only moments before. The creature hissed angrily when it realised that the target was elsewhere. It pulled its head out of the broken roots, slitted eyes narrowed. Asuna glared back. Around them, millions of shards–the remains of the rest of the mob–were already fading away. The surviving leader swung its body around, tail swishing towards the girl's legs, but she was already in the air. Her rapier glowed a deathly white as she thrust the weapon forward at an alarming speed. The snake bared its fangs and extended its body, but it had been taken by surprise. The weapon pierced through its eye and stayed, lodged in, before Asuna pulled it out again. The flesh around the wound exploded and the now headless snake slumped onto the ground. She was somewhat grateful that there was no blood in the game, or it would have been quite an unpleasant scene. The scaly length writhed until what was left of the head disappeared, then followed, shattering into thousands of polygons. The woods were filled with the sound of breaking glass as Asuna sheathed her rapier. The expected window popped up as everything silenced again. She examined it briefly before walking towards where she thought the path was. But having travelled a fair way in the last battle, she was greeted with another tree surrounded by leaf-less bushes. The girl sighed and opened her menu to check the map again.

The light purple screen displayed the map of the woods. 'Hm… The nearest one should be…' Her finger glided across the screen and stopped. 'So…' The map indicated that she would have to go about five hundred metres west. 'I'll have to go back where I came for half a kilometre… to get to the path. Argh…' She closed the window and trudged forward moodily. _How did I manage to move so much?_ She thought as she slashed down a low-hanging branch. _I should've chosen a place where I can send messages…_ Then she started hacking more furiously when she realised the woods was the only decent training ground anywhere near where she had first messaged Yuuki, though she still tried to control her movements so as to not attract unnecessary attention. It was a while before she realised she was making little progress. Looking carefully at the vines in front of here, she realised that they were interlocked with each other.

'Even these things have something against me.' She muttered under her breath and swung her rapier with renewed vigour. She knew it was just to mask her worry though; Yuuki tended to be quite rash. For all she knew, the younger girl could've decided to search for her… in the dungeons or somewhere dangerous. The blows became heavier and heavier and the wall, thinner and thinner. Finally, her blade broke through the foliage. It caught her by surprise and she almost fell forward. She quickly steadied herself and slashed past the rest of the overhanging branches that were in her way and walked through the thick entanglement of green. Once she was past the wall, her foot froze in midstep and her eyes widened.

She was surrounded by the same walls that she had just cut through. The top edges met with a 'cap' that sheltered the enclosed space from beasts and weather. Even as she gaped, the vines behind her were slowly snaking back towards each other, covering the places that she had cut off only a few minutes before. She had been slashing so quickly that she hadn't noticed the alarming rate of the plant's growth.

Her rapier was back in its sheath for she doubted that anything was going to disturb her while she was in the vine dome.

Even if it was a virtual in-game forest, you didn't just find natural enclosures on the way home. No, it was obvious that someone had created it sometime after the game started. It intrigued her. Who had done it? She didn't even know it was possible! Worries temporarily forgotten, she allowed her gaze to travel across the ceiling and floor, and her eyes eventually stopped as it reached the centre of the cleared space. The darkness had made everything hard to see, but there was definitely something there. She walked closer and crouched down. Black shards surrounding what looked like the bottom of an egg lay on the dusty ground. She reached out and picked one up. One side was smooth, greyish with a silver sheen to it. It felt warm, as if it had just been heated. The other was probably originally smooth as well, but was now covered in scratches. The surface was cold, so much that it burned her hands slightly. Turning the part-of-an-object in her hands, she saw that the marks were actually quite long, as if cut by something like a sword, and overlapping each other, almost forming an array of uneven grids. It had been beautiful before, she could tell, but something had scarred it; judging from the cuts and the hardness off the shell, something quite powerful. She brushed her finger over the scratches before gently placing the shard back. She was quite sure it was an egg now, as the pieces were all slightly curved in shape.

_So the pieces used to be an egg, but something hatched out of it. Or perhaps someone had tried to get to it? That would explain all those cuts on the shell. _A ray of sunlight bounced off the hilt of her gun. _Light? _She looked up, eyes passing over the thick vines searchingly. There was a small hole on the top. Strangely, it didn't close up like what happened to her. _So perhaps something had come out of that egg after all. _She thought, gazing at the squirrel-sized break in the ceiling. _So whatever this thing is, it can fly or maybe be good at climbing and somehow made it through that thick barrier._ The brightness was blurring her vision a bit so she lowered her eyes. Her surroundings were no longer dark. The 'sun' had risen. Somehow, she wasn't surprised when the walls around her retreated back into the trees. Soon, it was as if it had never existed. As she turned around, she thought she saw something duck behind the bushes, but when she peered over it, there was nothing there. The chest-nut haired girl shrugged then, and turned back towards the path.

It was probably just her imagination.

* * *

**AN: I started off with this ending for the chapter but then I decided it was badly written… I didn't want to just toss it away so I decided to put it on here… You can just skip it if you want.**

Yuuki and Kirito walked in silence through the plains that bordered Calm Lake.

'Ne...Kirito?' The shorter of the two finally said hesitantly.

'Hm?' The said boy turned his head towards his companion.

'Um…' Yuuki fiddled nervously with her hair. 'Er… How do you know where Asuna is?' She blurted out. Then she covered her mouth and blushed. 'Mmmm… I'm not doubting or anything you know, it's just… I'm curious and I really want to know and…' She trailed off when she realised she was blabbering. 'Sorry…' She managed sheepishly, trying to hide behind her bangs.

'No… It's alright.' Kirito said, perplexed at the girl's behaviour but not questioning it. 'Um… Why don't you read the message again?'

Yuuki did as she was told. As the screen flashed onto the messaging page, she cleared her throat.

'_Yuuki, I can't sleep so I'm gonna go train for a bit. Take that frown off your face.'_ Kirito smiled at this. _'I'll be back before breakfast so don't worry, 'kay?'_

He spoke. 'You eat breakfast about two hours after she sent the message and by her wording, I can assume that she wasn't already training. So, where's a place she can train if she only had two hours?'

'Calm Lake.' Yuuki nodded, increasing her pace. 'Really, she always needs looking after.'

'Mm…' They continued in silence for the next ten minutes, breaking into a run as they exited the twon. They were nearing the circle of water when Kirito stopped.

'Is something wrong?' She asked, a little anxiously.

'No… I'm just wondering if she went up that path over there.' He tilted his chin towards the mountain path leading to the peninsular he had been to only the day before. 'Or if she just stayed by the water.'

Yuuki was about to say something when she heard a familiar ringing sound. Quickly, she opened her messaging option and her eyes widened. 'Look! Asuna messaged!'

'What did she say?' Kirito asked, walking over.

'_I'll be back in fifteen minutes._'

* * *

The table in front of her was _really_ interesting. Smooth with brown swirls. Oh! And of course there was the cup, which had a striped pattern, sitting on a saucer. The saucer too… was also _very_ intriguing–much more intriguing than the pair of eyes staring at her at the moment. Yes. What was so interesting about a pair of eyes? Nothing at all. _Absolutely_ nothing, Asuna thought as she looked at anything and anyone _but_ the girl sitting across from her.

'Asuna.' The dreaded voice called sweetly.

'Oh-I-forgot-I-need-to-do-something-be-right-back-Eep!,' Asuna squealed as she jumped up as quickly as she could and almost tripped over nothing. Unfortunately, her mistake provided more than enough time for a hand to fasten itself around her wrist.

'I think that can wait.' Yuuki stated firmly. Her tone left no room for argument, though Asuna couldn't have gotten away anyway, with her being restrained by her friend's small but strong hand. She slumped back into her seat resignedly and went back to avoiding the other girl's eyes. Kirito sat at the side, stroking an asleep Whiskers and trying hard not to smile. The rat stirred, before shifting into a more comfortable position and settling down again.

'Asuna.' She heard her name being said and reluctantly lifted up her head.

'I'm sorry…' The chestnut haired girl mumbled under her breath.

'What took you so long?' Yuuki asked and Asuna inhaled sharply. It wasn't the words so much that surprised her, more like the smaller girl's eyes, wide with genuine curiosity. But then the girl just _had_ to smirk, ruining the overall effect.

'It,' _smirk._ 'Isn't everyday that _Asuna_ gets held back.'

The said girl decided that there was no way she was going to ignore that. 'What?' She snapped. 'It isn't my fault that those stupid snakes decided to attack me! And there _has_ to be something wrong with the map!'

_Smirk._ 'Are you sure it wasn't because there was something wrong with your sense of direction?'

'It doesn't have anything to do with that! I would get on course, and then after fighting, end up in a completely different place!' She pouted. 'The trees must know how to move…' She muttered the last part under her breath. Unfortunately, Yuuki had especially good hearing and laughed.

'Haha~ You are just sooo funny sometimes…' She giggled before straightening up a bit. 'But that wasn't the only thing that stopped you right?'

'Hmph. Oh.' Her pout disappeared for a second when she remembered the strange dome in the middle of the woods.

'What 'oh'.' Yuuki asked, with that infamous curious face back on again, but the older girl just ignored it.

'Er... I saw this weird dome thing made of vines and branches on my way out.' She left out the part about almost destroying it since it probably wasn't a wise thing to say. 'And there was this hatched egg in the middle.'

That got Kirito's attention. He leaned in slightly. 'Was it black? With scratches all over it?'

Asuna turned towards him, surprised and grateful to escape Yuuki, even only temporarily. 'Yes! How did you know?'

Kirito leaned back in his chair and sighed. 'It was a drop from the fourth boss.' He said and didn't evaluate further.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while, each not knowing what to say. It was still a sore subject. Whiskers let out an unhappy snort as Kirito stopped stroking.

'Well…' The boy stood up slowly, face emotionless again. 'I'd best be going…' With a final wave, he walked swiftly out of the tavern and quickly disappeared into the morning crowd.

* * *

**AN: Phew! Now the replies for guest reviews:**

**Sniper of Pucca:** Thanks :) *bows* I try my hardest in the scenes that show Kirito's awesomeness.

**Guest:** Thank you! I was basically just curious…

**Daymian: **Thx for sharing your thoughts! I'm sorry about this chapter… there will be a timeskip between this and the next one and I will definitely make the next one better!

**notloggedin:** I really enjoyed writing that bit hehe :)Thx too. I'm using icons in my story for the indicator for the player's position.

**Timeskip next chapter! I promise to return to my usual length (About 2500 words).**


	13. Chapter 12 Meetings and Reunions (5)

**AN: Firstly, I apologise for the lateness. More than two weeks since I last updated? But there have been more than a few unhappy things happening in my life at the moment so I haven't really been in the mood to write. **_**Anyway…**_** I'm sure you're not interested in my life story (which is just about the most boring thing I've ever thought about), so on to the really weird chapter I wrote!**

**WARNING: Extreme babbling (coz I think I might be slightly crazy, 'k?)**

* * *

**Chapter 12-Meetings and Reunions (5)**

_6__th__ April 2023_

_**18**__**th**__** Floor, Haze**_

As the days went by, causalities lessened significantly. People had started to accept that nothing was going to come out of being rash and panicking, and had started to try and adapt to the new conditions, though the majority still chose to stay on the mainland or higher floors of Haze. It was understandable. No one liked the risk. Most preferred not to endanger their lives in what was now known as the front lines, where players and powerful guilds tried to clear the lowest floors. However, it was still a huge step from the months before. Players were now starting to venture into forests and plains to level up and the market streets were getting more and more crowded with people looking for equipment. It was especially so on the 18th floor, which had just been activated only a few hours earlier. The teleportation gates on that floor were in the centre of a large city, already smarming with people even before the players fighting the boss had the chance to get a proper look around. Not that a particular black-haired boy was curious about the food and weapon stalls scattered beside the main roads. No, he'd immediately went to 'explore' the unmapped areas around the city. A lone petal floated onto his hand and he stared at it, amazed at the detailed beauty the game could show him, before lightly brushing it off.

The floors of Haze were designed to reflect the weather in the real world, though it was noticeably damper and cooler the deeper down the crater.

If it was summer, the air would be warm and monsters only unique to summer would appear.

Players with '_cooking´ _occupying one of their skill slots particularly liked the season of autumn, as there was an abundance of fruits and rare ingredients to be found as long as you looked at the right places. It was sad that November had been a month full of death and unhappy memories.

Winter was perhaps the more normal of the seasons. Not much happened then except for Christmas and the rare drops and beasts that came with it.

And… it was now spring. The flowers bloomed and beasts respawned twice as quickly, perfect for the population to train and level up.

The four seasons were then each split into four seasons. For example, winter, would have winter-winter, summer-winter, spring-winter and autumn-winter. Each floor either belonged to one of the main categories or, although this was rare, one of the sub ones.

What made the newly discovered floor all the more interesting was that it was a complete summer floor–or so the newly released guide said – and was a desert; _Really_ stereo typical as well, with the female NPCs wearing sequined costumes that showed off their figure and the men wearing headdresses and loose robes that, unlike the girls, covered everything except their faces and hands. The land was also almost completely sand, which was disadvantageous to players when they fought the monsters that were well-adapted to the unstable ground and lack of grip beneath their feet. The beasts were also very fast. Kirito was sure that they couldn't feel things such as heat, but the creators had probably designed them so that they had the characteristics of desert animals. The reptiles, especially, were a pain as they became more energetic in the sun, soaking up the warmth. Not for the first time, he cursed the stupid perfectionist who had made the game. Unlike the monsters, Kirito was not affected in a good way. Though players couldn't feel tired or hot from activities such as running, they could feel differences in temperature–which was one of the reasons why the game had been such a big deal in the first place plus what made the seasons so significant–and that certainly was not a good thing in a place such as a desert. It greatly decreased the players' concentration.

Kirito had to squint to see past the light and to the weird creature leaping down towards him. It was a mystery how the artificial light could focus on one spot whenever he looked at the sky, shining in his eyes so that he could barely see the shape in the air. He swayed to one side to dodge the attack. In the brief moment that the monster was on the ground, he managed to catch a glimpse of what it looked like–A jumping scorpion? Seriously?–as well as land a blow. Before it screeched and hopped up again, this time followed by the swordsman. Since he could now actually _see_ the monster, it made it easier to aim for more thinly armoured places and indirectly cause a mini sandstorm as the huge body fell back onto the ground with a sickening _crunch_. Kirito didn't even have time to look before a group of… lobsters… half crawled, half flew (is that even possible?) towards him, probably having been looking for some non-existent shelter that would keep them from being cooked alive before the weak-looking boy caught their attention. Said player was horrified that Kayaba didn't know the proper species found in hot desert regions. The other monsters had actually been quite well-placed if you thought about it: wolves and bats in a forest; fish and slimy things in the water; boars and bulls on the grass plains, though he had to admit that the creatures were a more than a little deformed. But still. To his further horror, the crustacean's shell was _red_, and gave off the smell of one of those weird dishes that he'd never had the courage to taste, mostly because he'd seen a few people vomit after eating it. That's getting off topic though. Kirito had most unfortunately managed to touch the lobster's shell, which was just as it looked–ready to burn–and he was hissing angrily at the uncomfortably tingling sensation of his hand. The lobsters then found themselves in a rather scary situation. The black-clad player who hadn't been in all that great a mood before was now emitting excess killing intent. It wasn't long before the not-desert creatures had shattered and disappeared, shards raining down on him. All that was missing was some dramatic music in the background and maybe Kirito sweeping his bangs back and flashing a smile. But of course he had no idea how to give fan service so decided to just stalk off. Oh well, that was cool in its own way.

By noon, he had somehow managed to end up in a forest that he had thought was a mirage. The trees were not the kind one would expect to see in a desert mirage though; none of those tall palm trees and clear springs. Actually, it would've been an impossible place if not for it being a game. The trees were forest trees rather than the deep-rooted plants. The sand had also faded into a firm soil that his feet didn't sink into. The scenery before and behind him looked as if they were from two different worlds, not the neighbours that they were. Kirito opened his menu window and quickly glanced at the time. Deciding that he had at least five more hours to spare, he readied his sword and stepped through the bushes.

* * *

'Hey, hey. Did you hear about that huge bird that's been flying around the floors?'

'You stupid? That wasn't a bird! It was _massive_.'

'You do realise we're kinda not in the real world?'

'Er…'

'I saw it firsthand! It really was too big… and shiny, but then you'd expect something like that to exist here.'

'How'd you know it was even the same one? It should be impossible for monsters in this game to traverse floors. Maybe there are just a heap of black flying creatures around.'

'Maybe it's some kind of huge hippogriff or something?'

'Heh… I guess that _is_ possible. Nobody's seen it up close anyway…'

'Mmm… Maybe it's a _dragonI_?'

'…And Maybe you can just shut up for a while?' Yuuki muttered between yawns. Asuna stirred her coffee absently while listening to the surrounding chatter. There was a lot of talk about 'an enormous black bird' recently. But beasts shouldn't be able to move from floor to floor so it was probably just one of the many baseless rumours going around. Really, how bored were these people? It wasn't like there was nothing better to talk about.

'I-is that that girl guild I see there?'

Oh, did she forget to mention that word had somehow gotten out about her and Yuuki? Well it did, probably having been spread by one of the fighters on the front lines. Who else had met and knew about them? Her hand tightened around the mug. Her companion glanced warily at her. If she squeezed any harder, it was going to break and they would have to pay compensation fees to the bar owner. She reached forward and gently placed her hand on her friend's arm, effectively drawing Asuna's attention.

'Relax.' She whispered, knowing there was little privacy in the packed room.

Asuna sighed and, to Yuuki's relief, released her hold on the mug. 'It's just… argh.' She groaned as quietly as she could, stretching forwards and laying her head on the table. 'Why isn't my death glare working?' Yuuki chuckled at this. 'And they're so annoying…'

'Well, it can't be helped.' She reasoned. Usually Asuna was the calmer one but she seemed to lose all composure in a place with many people. 'We _are_ a girl-only guild. And we've only got two members. It's natural for them to be interested.'

'Interested? _Interested?_' Asuna threw up her hands in irritation. 'Sure they're _interested_. They ogle at us like we're rare artefacts behind a glass case!'

Yuuki decided it was not wise to mention that in some way, they _were_ rare, though not artefacts. The majority of players in BTO were male, and since Kayaba Akihiko gave them the 'mirror', it was difficult to find even _one_ decent-looking female, let alone two, who were also powerful fighters. But then the public didn't know that part of them yet, though if you took in consideration the information network, she was sure they were going to get even more attention in the near future. And though they weren't behind glass cases, she knew that they were regarded more as 'unattainable' and mascots than anything else. But, as she thought before, it was not something that she should talk to Asuna about. She would probably start complaining again. So instead, she chose a safer way to speak to her friend.

'Then, do you want to leave now?' She asked, putting down her own empty cup.

Asuna blinked before smiling sheepishly. 'Yeah…' She grabbed her drink none too gently and gulped it down, drawing a small wince from her friend as she slammed the object back onto the table. No doubt its durability was already in single digits. The chest-nut haired girl smiled inwardly. It was fun watching Yuuki react.

The younger girl recovered almost immediately. She grinned and lead the way through the thick crowd.

* * *

After walking for a while, Kirito discovered that the trees formed a ring around a huge clearing, so big that when he stood at the tree line, the opposite side was only a faint dash under the blue sky. The land was also completely flat except for the many pits scattered here and there. Those too, were in perfect circles. In contrast, the trees around them looked really messy, like a child had scribbled around a printed plan. The holes were evenly placed in rows. Curious, he stepped carefully towards the nearest pit, feet tapping lightly on the hard ground in case there was a trap. He reached it safely enough, and took a deep breath before peeking over the edge. At first, there was nothing except darkness. Then, something jumped towards him and he briefly heard the sound of gnashing teeth before his body reacted on its own, except, instead of using common sense and jumping backwards, he leapt _upwards_ and brought down his sword. He felt the expected resistance of his blade slicing through virtual flesh before twisting in the air and landing nimbly on his feet. The two pieces of monster hit the floor a second later, still thrashing around blindly. Kirito finished the job by cutting it into smaller pieces until the HP bar emptied completely. He watched with little emotion as the moving flesh finally shattered, foot already in the air towards the next pit. This time it was a creature resembling a grub, only stickier and covered in poisonous acid. This one was easily taken care of with a few thrusts. The last move, 'Vorpal Strike', gave him double his usual reach and drilled a hole through the oversized monster's middle. The outer skin was too thin to hold the two parts together so it was an unsightly death, orange 'blood' floating around it as the monsters own weight ripped itself apart. Only a few seconds afterwards, the damage caused to the ground disappeared and he once again found himself staring at the disturbingly flawless surroundings. It was hard to believe that the holes each contained a very unpleasant beast. He had to give credit to the creator for having such a twisted sense of humour.

* * *

**AN: Yay done! I hope I can update soon, though I doubt I can. Sorry if it's shorter than expected though. I kinda wanted to update asap and since I've already got over 2300, I decided to just do it now. **

**BTW If you're interested you can check out my other story: The Change of Fate. It's an SAO and One Piece crossover (I know, I know, weird, right?). **

**Err… All that's left for me to say is: REVIEW! I need feedback to cure my writers block, so please? I only got something like two reviews for the last chap even though that was when I needed you guys the most.**


	14. Chapter 13 Meetings and Reunions (6)

**AN: Drumroll…. And I introduce… Le appearance of Luna! Bah, it kinda sucks though. Feel free to tell me if you hate it and if enough people do, I'll rewrite the chapter.**

**I've got no idea what Kirito's level was at about this time so if you think it is not accurate, feel free to correct me!**

**I decided that I'll get Luna in early since you like her so much. Don't complain if it seems rushed k? But I must warn you that they don't properly meet yet. You'll have to wait for the next update for that. Anyway, I put some pretty confusing parts in here but I'm sure you'll all know what I'm talking about even if I don't :) There is a first person POV to make some parts less confusing and wordy. Tell me what you think about it :)**

**BTW I decided Kirito's Sword- **_**Eve**_** is going to also be called the 'Evening Blade' to make the writing smoother.**

* * *

**Chapter 13-Meetings and Reunions (6)**

Kirito continued towards the next pit. Due to the surprise element, the monsters had been worth quite a lot EXP. If there were as many as he thought there were, it would provide a large amount of points for him to reach level twenty-seven. He might even be able to level up within the next day. His hand slid beneath the folds of his coat towards the belt slung around his torso. He hadn't used the knives for a long time, but he knew he had to try and master the skill before the end of the year; they were the only long-ranged weapon he had. Stopping at the edge, he kicked at the ground using as little force as possible, but still enough to send a slight tremor down towards the monster hidden below. Stepping back, the skilled swordsman settled into his usual stance; body lowered and one foot in front of the other, except this time he kept his the sword at his side and instead his sword hand emerged with three knives. It wasn't long before he heard the sound of a large body speeding towards him. His body leaned over even more and the muscles in his leg tensed. The weapons glowed from between his fingers. He caught a flash beneath him and instantly swung his arm forwards, releasing the knives. The blades flew through the air and two of them embedded themselves into the target's throat. That might've been the start of the strangeness.

Then again it wasn't as if the whole area wasn't strange in itself. The location, especially, where the forest was, was already odd. There was also how the clearing was very unrealistic. The fact wouldn't be as out of the ordinary if it were any other game, but this was BTO, the RPG that Kayaba Akihiko had tried to make as real and as perfect as possible. Emphasis on 'REAL' and 'PERFECT.'

Which wasn't fitting with what he had just seen.

Question of the day: What was a small crow doing in a monster's hideout?

A scuffling sound caught his attention. He whipped around and saw another bird emerge from below. It flapped its wings slightly to smooth them out before folding them neatly at its side. It then proceeded to look around. Kirito suspected that it was looking for the almost-identical bird he'd killed just seconds before. He didn't feel guilty about it; it wasn't as if it could actually 'die'. Unlike the players, the virtual animal would respawn soon enough.

After a while, the bird finally turned its eyes onto him, and cocked its head, as if assessing the boy before it. Just as he thought it was going to do something that was actually productive, it turned around and waddled back towards the pit.

His first thought was, '_Well that was unexpected.'_

His second thought was, _'What the fuck.' _

Yeah. That he didn't think of the second one first really shows what a Death Game could do to a usually calm and sane person.

Anyway…The bird was padding back. He would later remember the situation and find it amusing, but at the moment, it was not. Kirito was very confused. What was such a tiny creature doing amongst all those gruesome monsters? Perhaps it was like Yuuki's pet and became larger at will. But that didn't explain why it was small even when he had disturbed it. He had no doubt that there at least used to be a monster in there; the place reeked like the others in the clearing, if not more, if that was possible. Yet another thing that didn't match to how perfect the area was. His eyes darted back to the crow as it squawked and jumped over the edge. He briefly heard an almost pained squeal accompanied by the sound of rustling feathers as it unfurled its wings to stop the fall. The sounds soon faded and the quiet settled in once again. The system quickly cleaned up the few pieces of fluff that was left behind, but Kirito was too focussed to notice. He frowned thoughtfully, finger tapping the hilt of his sword. It was all very strange… But it wasn't really any of his business, was it? It wasn't like he needed to know the 'whys' of everything. He nodded to himself twirling his sword in his hand, and gripping it loosely. He strode towards where the next monster (hopefully) lived, his pace noticeably faster than usual. The next kill was quick; the head sliced cleanly off, but with less than his standard accuracy. Not being able to get into 'wild mode', since there weren't any big mobs or bosses around, was becoming more of a frustrating problem than a bad one. At least he didn't need to think when he was like that, even if he lost more and more of himself. The most frustrating thing was that he _had no idea what was bugging him_. Maybe it was the overall atmosphere of the place. Or maybe it was the irony of the place and the whole situation. The perfect clearing having ugly beasts prowling its depths. Beast Tamer Online had been just a _game_, the best, at that, but it just _had_ to become the graveyard it was. Perfection becoming twisted and ugly. Was it too much of a coincidence. Or was it just a bad joke the creator had programmed in while chuckling madly to himself?

Or maybe it was nothing and everything was finally getting to his head.

* * *

It was cold. And dark. And scary. She knew they wouldn't find her here but her body refused to move. She didn't even breathe. But despite it all, her non-existent breath somehow hitched when she heard the footsteps. They were far away, sure, and it was unlikely they would get to the exact place she was, but she couldn't help but tremble when she felt the vibrations from the floor. What made it scarier was that she couldn't even _remember_. She didn't _know_ why she was so frightened. It was more of an instinct than anything else, and she knew that she had a reason for it, even if she didn't know what the reason was, if that made any sense.

There was another tugging sensation too, that was pulling her towards the footsteps, and, even for that, she didn't know why. She felt she should though. She felt that she was forgetting something extremely important. Behind her, she heard her companion shuffle in her spot before settling again.

Well, at least she had someone with her. Sighing silently, she curled into a ball and laid her head down.

She didn't really have much of a choice but to wait and hope for the best, so she may as well rest when she could.

* * *

By now, Kirito was onto the fifth row and was slightly fatigued, as one was expected to be after fighting off more than thirty monsters in the last hour, even if he fought them one at a time. As he neared the opposite side of the clearing, the monsters became noticeably more difficult to handle. His health had almost decreased to the half-way point, and was already displaying a lighter shade of green that was tinged with a hint of yellow rather than the usual clear colour. By now though, he had developed a 'pattern'.

The way his battle healing was, it was enough to cancel out the damage caused from something like a gash in his arm and therefore the more minor attacks he could take head on without worrying about dodging. It also meant that he would be able to analyse the monster carefully without risking too much. It was not long before he noticed that the beasts' movements would suddenly become more accurate at around the same time, and so concluded that they had to spend a certain amount of time 'adapting' to their surroundings. Their initial reaction time was approximately one second slower than what they were after a drawn-out battle, so they would also take longer to recognise feints. If he took into account that there would _always_, no matter how good the game was, and however hard to notice, be a transitional point of one thing to another. The game version of the ones that existed in both the virtual and real world would also have _significantly_ larger 'differences' and 'pauses' between those transitions than what one would find in the non-game version. It may not matter much if it was just a 2D fight, but Kirito was in Full Dive, and the concept may not really make a difference with bosses as much because of their more intelligent intelligence, but it was certainly much easier to see with the lower level ones. That split second before the AI of the monster 'changes', is when the data is the most complex. It was all about reaction; the one that was sharpest, would have the advantage. Just the fact that games were all predictable to some point already gave the players a lot to work with.

_All that was left would be for them to use it._

Kirito smiled mid-step as the beast's movements finally froze, his sword already moving towards it. The months he'd been in the game had allowed him to get used to the way the ingame world looked, so despite it being only the slightest of hesitations, he could just barely see it. Less than a millisecond later it had moved again but the system wasn't quick enough to stop his attack. No matter how good a player was, it wasn't possible to start a skill at exactly the moment he needed it so he wasn't able to charge up a Sword Skill, but his weapon still danced forward with deadly speed. He'd perfected his five-hit combo long ago. The blade was illuminated, instead, with the afternoon light, as it slashed through the monster's body. It looked more real than the usual dark blue glow that followed his every attack.

Landing lightly on the ground, Kirito wondered whether it occurred to anyone that what was keeping everyone alive was the features of BTO itself, even though that was the thing trapping them here in the first place.

He also wondered if the players were like the monsters to the creator– able to be predicted if he concentrated enough. He decided that they were even easier to handle.

* * *

I could feel this depressing aura coming a few hundred metres from where I was. It was making me depressed too, strangely enough. Unfortunately, the footsteps had only come closer and closer instead of going away. I was now considering the option of flying up and biting whoever-it-was's head off to scare them and then moving somewhere else. Again.

… Nah… it was too tiresome. Plus, Footstep (I decided it needed a name so I didn't have to think a brainful when referring to it) seemed really sad. And somehow… that was supposed to matter…? Why did I care? But if I _did _hurt it, I was going to make it sadder… _Argh, shut up brain. _If I have one. Which I don't. Quite literally._ Wait, why am I explaining my thoughts? Does Footstep have magic that can make people crazy? But that shouldn't be possible… _I tried to shrug, but failed miserably. _Meh, I'll ask Warm afterwards._ I heard my companion stir and get up, using my back as some sort of arm rest. _Ah… Just in time. As the Chinese said: say–_

Thankfully, she spoke before I could go completely bonkers. _There's someone coming_, the now-awake Warm thought to me.

_Yes. _I replied, deciding to get the conversation over with so I could hurry up and get the answers to my questions. _What do we do?_

She was silent for a while, during which I heard her place her fingers to her temple. I felt the familiar exposed feeling I got whenever she made that gesture. It wasn't that it felt uncomfortable; it was just as if everything that made up, well, _me_, was being looked at and shuffled through like a pile of cards. I briefly wondered if anyone else felt the same, but Warm chose then to put down her hands.

'It's ok.' I was surprised that she spoke aloud. 'He's not bad.'

Ok, ok, ok, whoever this was, was either absolutely amazing or I was right about the crazy magic. For _Warm_, of all people, to _actually say_ that someone was _not bad_?! Wow, I must meet this Footstep.

* * *

Kirito froze. Everything was like before, but by being in many near-death situations, he'd developed a pretty dependable sixth sense. Something was near, he was sure, though he hadn't felt threatened, so he didn't think it was going to do him harm. _Still better to be careful though, _he thought as he placed his foot down and continued on normally. One thing that was good about an extremely large clearing was that nobody would be able to pick up on anything unusual about his movements as long as he was discreet. Hiding in one of those pits would also be an extremely risky move. They would have to be a _very_ skilled hider to escape his attention. But then, it could have just been something else entirely, like a monster sneezing, for example. He didn't know how deep the holes were, but judging from the amount of time something took to travel up to the surface, it was probably deep enough for an 'achoo' to be silent by the time it reached him if the walls weren't straight like everything else. That would explain why he didn't feel the presence before.

_It really is a strange day, _he mused, dodging the echidna's attack for the last time, before closing in as soon as it faulted. Eyes slitted in concentration, he dragged his sword through the hard spikes and twisted it in a triangular motion, cutting a hole in its chest. He then turned in mid-air and jabbed at the oversized animal's chin with his left fist. A kick immediately followed, digging deep into the weakened body and bashing it down to the ground. The ground trembled with the force and for a second, the trees swayed despite being so far away. Kirito landed soundlessly, slightly out of breath. It required a lot of concentration and exertion to time the attacks right. One fault could lead to more than he could handle. Nevertheless, he was determined to not use Sword Skills for the rest of the day unless it was absolutely necessary. It might've been purely for self-satisfaction, he knew, but it reassured him that he _could_ change the way Kayaba wanted everything played. He didn't like being controlled.

Kirito swung The Evening Blade from left to right and sheathed it in one smooth moment, stepping forward to examine his earnings. It seemed that all the rewards for the area's monsters were the same, except for one of the items, but most of them dropped a 'Dragon's Talon'–an 'uncommon' item that could be taken to a healer and made into a strengthened potion, though it had one drawback: it was impossible to know what potion it would become until it actually finished 'brewing'. Sometimes it would become an 'unnamed' potion, meaning that it had not been discovered before. It would then name itself after a player or pet has tried it. Unfortunately, there was as much chance of it being a poison as something good. Because of this, when a player got an unnamed potion, they usually sold it to NPC stalls (Player stalls often didn't want this stuff). Kirito himself had acquired a few unnamed ones and had sometimes locked himself in his room to try them out. They had never been the bad kind, so he ended up wasting them. One other thing was that although the potion would be named, it could still only be obtained from a Dragon's Talon. At least that was what was believed to be. The players only knew so much.

He moved mechanically to the next point, thinking glumly that chopping animals to pieces was not the most entertaining thing someone could do, (Read: 'completely and utterly boring his head off), once again trying to figure out _how_ did he find it so _interesting_ all those months ago. The answer was quite obvious, and not something he wanted to talk about, so he tried to forget he had even asked, which basically meant clearing his mind. It also meant resigning himself to at least another two hours of absolute boredom. It didn't help that everything was spaced so evenly without any sort of unexpectedness.

Until a dragon popped up and pounced on him, that is.

* * *

**MUHAHAHAHAHA! Cliffhanger! But before you start complaining, I have to remind you that YOU guys were the one who wanted Luna so much *smiles brightly*. Oh, and be prepared for a chapter of boringness for the next update, which probably won't be in a while :/**

**Now, replies to ppl who disabled their PM + guest reviews:**

**Phantom98112: I know! But you shouldn't have to worry so much about that after Kirito gets Luna back. The problem was that he didn't have a pet, which made it hard to include them in descriptions….**

**john: Thank you :) Ah… romance… Erm… I guess I'm still trying to figure it out… Anyone have any suggestions as to **_**how on earth**_** they can get together… Of course if nobody knows I'll attempt to figure it out myself.**

**So that's it! Do I need to tell you to review? Oh well, I will anyway. REVIEW EVERYONE! I'm open to ideas as long as you know I don't guarantee they will actually be included… But yeah… ALL reviews welcome :)**


	15. Chapter 14 Meetings and Reunions (7)

**AN: Here comes the dragon that you love so much… Back to third-person POVS**

* * *

**Chapter 14-Meetings and Reunions (Final Part (Not really))**

Something that is vaguely annoying could be put up with for a short while, but after an extended amount of time, the thing that was vaguely annoying would become unbearably so, which was why dripping water onto someone's face was used a method of torture in medieval times. This was (sort of) happening with a certain black dragon down in one of the holes nearer to the trees.

You see, there was a very loud fluttering sound coming from above the pit she was in, and wasn't stopping. It was a very captivating sound, and had this magical magnetic force that somehow drew her towards it. She would later be told, by a very patient swordsman, that this annoying, flapping little thing was called a 'Butter Fly', although she had no idea why that was. It certainly didn't taste like a buttered fly (She'd tasted some of both ingredients and it was easy enough to imagine them together), but was quite thin and brittle, breaking immediately on contact with her teeth. Anyway, it just so happened that something else had also been between her jaws only moments before. Yellow eyes met black ones and both of them stiffened. The silence stretched on for a few moments, broken by her startled yelp as the piece of Butter Fly in her mouth shattered, leaving an empty feeling. The numbing sensation was soon forgotten though, as she resumed staring at those deep, dark orbs. They were widened with shock, and another something. Was that recognition she saw? She'd seen that expression before, but this time it was less frightening and more confusing. Did he know her? She was uncertain. Memories from more than a few weeks ago were fuzzy, and near-impossible to remember.

But she felt like she'd met him somewhere before. His aura and the way he stood… There couldn't be too many people like that.

From the lack of other moving things around, she assumed that this was Footstep. The dragon stretched her neck lazily to the side, eyeing the mystery before her. It wasn't necessary to do anything more than that. She just waited patiently, waiting for him to say whatever it was that he wanted to say.

* * *

Kirito's hand automatically flew to the hilt of his sword, narrowly avoiding the powerful jaws that had clamped down where the limb had been before. The blade was halfway out of the sheath now, and he directed his attention to the monster, only to freeze. The creature yelped from some unknown discomfort. The sound was familiar. He slowly, almost fearfully, took in the black scales and round, yellow eyes, running his eyes over everything twice, just to be sure. There were no breaks, nothing to say that it was fake. Even the symbol at her side. The circle with a cross in it was the same. Everything was identical.

But it was impossible, right? He'd met her in the beta. Wasn't the system completely renewed after that? She'd probably been recreated into one of the beasts guarding the clearing. She'd have no memory.

Regardless, though, of these doubts, one little fact still allowed him to believe, wish and get his hopes up:

She hadn't attacked him yet.

* * *

'Luna…' A slightly strained voice escaped his throat. The dragon twitched and their gazes locked again.

Luna? Was that a name or something? _Who are you?_ She hissed through her mind, not that she expected him to be able to hear her.

His stare faltered. _You… don't remember? _Oh, so he could hear.

She cocked her head curiously. A bell-like laugh sounded through the clearing. _No. Am I supposed to?_

A series of emotions crossed his face, but they were gone before she could get a proper look. He spoke out loud this time. 'No. You probably aren't.' His voice was distant, and his eyes were out of focus, looking past – through – her.

_What does that mean?_

'I... wanted to confirm that you weren't.' He sounded tired.

_Weren't what?_ This guy really knew how to irritate her.

No one moved for a while, until he projected another thought to her mind. _Just… Forget what I said._

She didn't reply. After all, there was no point in doing that (basically she was annoyed), but, as he smiled that sad smile, something inside her twisted painfully, which was strange, since she shouldn't be able to feel any internal pain.

They were both too preoccupied to notice the approaching shadow.

* * *

'Phew!' Asuna said, breathing deeply. 'We're finally free!'

Yuuki glanced at her friend sceptically.

'What?' The chest-nut haired girl exclaimed. 'I almost suffocated in that crowd.'

'… Sure.' She turned back to the front, the corner of her mouth twitching.

'…Hey. You're smiling.'

'No, I'm not.'

'Yes you are.'

'… What do you want to do now?'

'Don't change the subject!' She exclaimed, pouting.

The other ignored her. 'Then, let's go map out some areas. I bet the guilds are already arguing about who's going to go. We'll send them a message.' Her tone had changed to one of frustration, though she tried to hide it, by turning away and opening her friends/chat window.

Asuna glanced at her friend, pout vanishing and being replaced by a concerned frown. Yuuki tapped 'enter' into the floating keyboard, her smile back on already, and closed the screen. Looking around, she pointed to a particularly large group of sand dunes.

'How about there?' She suggested. 'It's not that far away so we could probably get back by dusk. I think we still have some emergency crystals.'

Asuna wasn't convinced, but bent backwards slightly, gazing up at the sky. 'We have enough for a small army. Remember yesterday?' She could feel a grin starting to form. Yuuki groaned at this.

A few hours before the Seventeenth floor Boss fight, they'd been heading towards the boss room and had run into a huge mob of walking man-eating flowers. Thanks to their speed, they were able to escape by getting rid of the nearest creatures before the mob could organise themselves and slip through the temporary gap that was created. It happened to be that each of them dropped a lot of herbs –which were less effective than crystals and potions, and needed a longer time to take effect, but were ideal if a player wasn't in a hurry – and crystals. There were different flavours too. They'd tried out two each to recover the HP they lost during the brief time they were cornered, though she'd had to eat the second one straight after the first because the one she tried turned out to be _rotten_ banana flavoured instead of, well, _just_ banana flavoured. Just so you know, the second one was durian (she rubbed her mouth raw after this). In her opinion, this was plenty reason to glare at her companion, who was snickering none too discreetly. It didn't help that the older girl had got blackberry for both.

'What's so funny?' She asked, a dangerous note in her voice.

Asuna had decided that hiding her laughter was too energy-consuming and was now outright _guffawing _(At least that's what it sounded like to her). 'It's just… your face… hahaha.'

'Shut up.' She snapped, poking the other in the ribs.

'Ok, ok.' She said, jumping back from the sharp prods and returning them with her own.

_Somehow that didn't sound very convincing_, Yuuki thought, blocking another of Asuna's attacks.

'Pfff…'

'…'

'Hahahahaha…'

_Oh great. How did I know?_

* * *

It gave away nothing. The only evidence of its existence was the dark shape traced onto the ground by the sun. As it crawled towards the figure, its senses flared. Lying dormant for a long time had taken its toll on its movements, but it was stealthy enough to escape detection. There was something else beside its to-be-meal but it appeared to not be associated with his target so was ignored. The predator preferred to focus on the scrumptious meal that was on offer.

Twenty metres away… Ten… The smaller one stiffened. Ah… He's noticed… Well, too bad. 'Ssssss….' Its tongue darted out from its lips. _It's dinner time._

* * *

Kirito inhaled sharply. He'd long ago developed the ability that allowed him to sense danger when it came. And it did now. He knew without looking that there was something behind him. Something that wanted him dead.

But, even as Eve slid silently from its sheath, and his body turned, he knew it was too late.

* * *

Perhaps the creature had become too arrogant, or too full of itself. It stretched its forearm an inch too far, and sharp claws scraped the ground. The system created lines of small sparks, which would make anyone wonder if the clearing was indeed made from metal. Along with it, was a barely audible noise that no human would be able to hear. But she was barely human. Her ears twitched from the sudden disturbance. There was only one possible possibility as to who – what had made the noise. Somehow she felt more emotional than she should at this, and instinct took over – something that she should never allow to happen. Her leg muscles temporarily bulged from sudden tension, which was released only a moment later. As she leapt past him, she saw the shock in his eyes, and for a second there, everything felt close to peaceful. It felt _right._ Then, the moment ended. Long, hooked nails dug into her poorly protected stomach, causing her to cringe in pain. She landed awkwardly on her side, sliding a good few metres across the flat ground.

* * *

He knew what she was going to do before she did it, but that didn't make it any better. It was as if time slowed down for the next few seconds, and everything became eerily quiet. Luna lunged towards the shape behind him. He turned his head to see her body hang in mid-air, for that brief moment, defying gravity. Then came the claws, sharp and designed to do damage. They pierced her flesh and tore the soft scales off her stomach, exposing strips of orange 'blood'. Time once again hit play, and she fell the short distance between her and ground, before skidding dangerously close to the edge of a pit and stopping in an tangled heap. Even then, they kept coming, those wrinkled fingers that had injured the only one who had truly _understood_ him. It had come out of its camouflaged state, revealing itself to be a giant chameleon. Anger threatened to overwhelm him. With trembling fingers, he let his sword slide back and stood, hands outstretched, inviting it to come closer. Nothing in his stance suggested any will to protect himself. The monster growled, taking the invitation. They were a mere two metres apart now. Kirito could feel its hot breath on his face, and had to keep himself from gagging. He forced himself to calm down. Taking one last shaky breath, he fell back. In an instant, it was on him, already savouring the body beneath. From the side, it looked as if the player had surrendered himself to death, and was being devoured. Some would have found it strange that the monster seemed less enthusiastic that before. In fact, it wasn't moving at all. There was a slicing sound. A line appeared, stretching from head to toe. The reptile then split neatly into two. Kirito stepped through the two pieces. His bangs covered most of his eyes, but what could be seen was tinged with red. Put with his black coat and the bloody monster behind him, he looked like a demon straight from hell. Nobody was there, though, and the image was immediately shattered (Quite literally) by the shards of its remains. His eyes were back to normal too. One would say the scene was the complete opposite of what was an instant before. He now looked like the main character from a superhero movie. His sheath was still occupied, which would make anyone wonder how he'd managed to kill the creature. The 'Congratulations' window was ignored as usual, as he hurriedly spun around, anxious about the condition of his former and, hopefully, current, friend.

And almost jumped out of his skin.

There she was, standing behind him as if nothing had ever happened to her. She regarded him through half-lidded eyes and scratched her leg, which he _swore_ had been hanging off her less than two minutes ago, having been cut by the chameleon's attacks. But there were no visible gashes, no signs of damage. She was completely unharmed. He eyed her suspiciously, his mind already sorting through all the possibilities. No matter how thoroughly he searched, though, all he could come up with was that she was an 'immortal object'. But that wouldn't really make sense since she had _definitely_ been injured during the attack. Then, she had extraordinary healing abilities? But no object could heal that fast… She consumed a healing crystal? But only players could do that. Argh… what was it? Kirito racked his brains furiously, trying to find the solution to this very unusual situation, which made it all the more interesting. How…

…_lo? Helloooo?_ He was pulled back into reality by the subject of his musings. He lifted his head slowly, eyes narrowed and looking the dragon up and down. Maybe there was some clue…

_Bam!_

'Ow…' Kirito rubbed his head incredulously. 'Why'd you do that?'

_You had a really creepy look on your face. _She looked to be amused about something.

'Oh, is that so?' He muttered half-heartedly, a keen person would be able to hear the small smile behind his words. It was almost like the old times.

_Yes._ She continued before he could say anything more. _Have we met before?_

'… yes, we have.' He answered, after considering the question. So much for being like the old times.

_When? And why did you say 'Luna' when you saw me? _She asked._ Please tell me._

Now, usually, at this time, the main character will start an extremely long speech about their past experiences, blah-dy blah-dy blah, but luckily, our protagonist here was Kirito, who wasn't fond of that kind of thing.

'We met a few months ago and became good friends.' He said simply. 'Luna was your name.'

_My… name?_ She'd never thought about having a name, let alone actually having one.

'Yes. Luna.' He sounded as much like he was calling her as it was for confirming her question.

_I –_

Suddenly everything was engulfed in a white light, almost like when someone teleported, except of a much larger scale. It was gone as abruptly as it had come, and both boy and dragon blinked, trying to get rid of the black dots in their vision.

It had been a large clearing, so they didn't notice the difference at first, but it wasn't long before they did.

Luna became rather agitated, scuttling around, scanning the ground, and chanting _Warm_ over and over.

Kirito, however, was focussed on something else. He stared and stared. You could practically see the gears in his brain turning. In the end, he gave up thinking and opened his mouth instead.

'Hey. Did you have a HP bar there before?'

Well _that_ certainly caught her attention.

* * *

**AN: I know, I know, I know. The ending is abrupt (I can't think of any in-between events). But guess what? Bad luck :P I'll hopefully explain everything next chapter.**

**Oh, if you're interested, check out my other SAO fanfic (crossover with One Piece). To those who don't want to, I assure you that BTO is always going to be my priority :)**

**Please R&R! Constructive criticism and rambling is encouraged!**


	16. Chapter 15 The Dangers of the Desert

**AN: Oh. My. God. I am so sorry for the late update, but I had writer's block. And homework. Even though I had the holidays… Don't get me started on homework. Am I the only one who gets alarmingly murderous whenever anything resembling a teacher enters my sight? I hope not.**

**Anyway…**

**YAYYYYY! Now I'm finally closer to getting to the first 'sub-story'/arc/event, whatever you want to call it. Even though it's only an introduction…**

**Starts off with Luna's first person (!) POV :) Experimenting.**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

I've seen the white light before, but I don't really remember it. It was one of those fuzzy memories. In the memories, Warm wasn't there when I woke up. Even as I searched frantically around, I knew she wasn't here this time either. Beside me was the strange boy who'd called my name, and who'd just said one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.

'Hey. Did you have a HP bar there before?'

I turned around and stared at him.

* * *

She spun around, and looked at him like he was crazy.

_Maybe I am…_ That musing was soon dismissed, since it didn't take long for her to also notice the extra window floating above her head, and do a double take as if that would get her away from it.

_Wha… _He heard her mutter in her head, and chuckled softly, turning away so that she wouldn't see. Kirito ignored the eyes boring into the back of his neck and assessed his surroundings thoughtfully. It appeared that they were still in the clearing, or somewhere similar, since the trees were in the exact same place as before. The rows of holes had disappeared, leaving the ground smooth and flat. Drawing his sword, he softly brushed the tip against the ground. No sparks. So the system here had also changed. He would have to walk out of the forest to know anything else. What puzzled him was that, although BTO was essentially deadly, anyone had to admit that the game was fair. A teleportation without warning was unheard of since the first day. There also shouldn't be any near-identical places. Schädella was too perfectly designed, the creator too obsessed in perfection, for that to happen. He peeked over his shoulder at the dragon behind him. Maybe she would know. Luna was glancing warily at the Health Bar.

_Any idea what happened just then? _He asked as carefully as he could, kicking the perfect floor casually.

She blinked, her gaze flickering from the glowing rectangle. She seemed unsure if she should answer.

_Warm did it… _She finally mumbled.

_Warm?_

_Yeah, War– Why do you want to know, anyway? _She asked, narrowing her eyes and craning over so she could examine his face.

_Well… Anyone would after what just happened_. _So… Who's this 'Warm'?_ He pressed on.

Luna puffed out some smoke from her nostrils and turned away from him, pretending not to hear the question.

Hmm…. That didn't work, did it? Onto the next approach.

'Is anyone here hungry?' He wondered out loud. The dragon's ears shot straight up but she didn't move. 'No-one? Well then, I should get going…' He trailed off, slowly walking back the way he'd come. It wasn't long before a much louder set of footsteps joined his.

_Do… do they have strawberry pudding there?_

Kirito had the sudden urge to cackle evilly. 'Of course.' He said instead.

* * *

_**...Meanwhile…**_

This was not at all what they had been expecting.

Firstly, they had not the slightest idea where the hell they were.

Secondly, as if that wasn't unusual in itself, there just _had_ to be big, fat _earthworm _mobs spawning there.

Thirdly, the monsters seemed to have no attack pattern or fixed level whatsoever, which would explain why the two girls were completely taken by surprise when a worm with high enough level to be a miniboss appeared right after they just managed to get themselves in bad condition. It didn't help that there was no real way to tell from their size or appearance either, except for the mass of ridiculously tiny window that sadly became extremely confusing due to them being too similar.

It was perhaps their luck that the creatures' main means of attack was from bashing around by thumping or lifting their tail and head. It was also truly fortunate that their jelly-like skin could be easily sliced through. If it hadn't been for that, the guild may have been in a worst situation.

_**Two hours earlier**_

Asuna quickly darted away from her friend's oncoming attacks, leaving shallow footprints in the sand, which disappeared only seconds later. Her movements were graceful, as if she'd been living in the game her whole life. Someone was able to match, however, namely the very red-faced Yuuki. She was obviously still pissed at the older girl for laughing at her.

'Get back here!' She shouted at the retreating figure, still half hopping, half sprinting forward. The sand made running an annoying task. Her pet squealed, egging her on.

'Why?' Asuna shouted back, though she had to admit she was slightly offended that the rat had taken her friend's side (It _was_ a cute rat). 'To let you torture me? I'm not suicidal!'

Yuuki drew her lips up into a pout. 'Come back!' _Sque…squeak._

The chase continued for a good ten minutes. By that time, they had already covered a fair distance into the unmapped areas. Obviously, the two were too preoccupied to notice. They found out the hard way, which ironically (not that they'd know) took the form of a hole.

Asuna had just taken her eyes off Yuuki for a second, but when she looked back, the girl had disappeared. Of course, being the worried friend and all, she'd frantically run forward and fell through the sand herself. Looking back, it wasn't all that surprising that there was some kind of trap under the calm exterior but neither of them were thinking logically at that time.

Both swordswomen landed with a dull and numbing _Thud_ on the hard floor of what appeared, or looked like, a regular dungeon, only the walls and ceiling was made of sand, not that it was very obvious in the dim lighting. Whiskers scurried out of the fold of Yuuki's cloth armour and proceeded to sniff around. His ears pricked up in warning.

They only had mere moments to process this before the revolting sight of the first of the earthworm mob entered their sight. On reflex, Asuna had pulled out her Glock and was aiming via the 'scope' that had appeared in her vision. Nevermind she was still half-sprawled on the floor. There was a red circle increasing and decreasing in size in the centre. She positioned her line of sight with her line of fire and pulled the trigger just as the circle was the smallest. She missed her target – the monster's middle – by over a metre, causing the amateur markswoman to groan, but managed to pierce the side of its bulky body.

These fat blobs were just _perfect_ to practice shooting on.

The bullet passed through the gooey flesh all too easily without much resistance. The worm's health barely decreased.

Ok, maybe not. It seemed that being penetrable was as much of a problem as having a thick shell. She gagged at the sight of the trail of blood she had created that was visible through the creature's semi-transparent skin. Blood and gore was fine and all, but she didn't really like to see it first-hand. She glanced at the faint shuffling noise to her left to see Yuuki up as well, tenderly massaging her arm.

Luckily she could afford the distraction since, as suggested by their huge bodies, the worms were rather slow. The midday spawns near Calm Lake were probably faster, which said something. Yuuki, who had had plenty of time to draw her weapon, decided to go with the 'fast' approach and dashed off. Asuna sighed, and grabbed the hilt of her own weapon. The long, smooth blade slid out soundlessly, but changed its course at the last second as a sound came from above, barely in time too. The rapier sliced through half the falling body, giving her just enough space to move out of the way. However, the ambusher wasn't alone and soon Asuna found herself surrounded by her own little hoard of writhing, invertebrates. Her next attack made her realise that they were all different in their level; the one she had first cut was still up and about while the second had fallen.

_One down, a million more to go! _She thought sarcastically as she leapt over the half a dozen tails that had come out of nowhere. The situation was not good. She was fast, but nowhere near fast enough if she wanted to continuously escape all those hits. Her battle healing could only help so much with her health. She was proved correct, for, less than ten minutes later, her HP bar was becoming yellow, while the surviving monsters closed in at a slow but sure pace.

Meanwhile, Yuuki was faring slightly better since she had lured the creatures into a more open area where she could put her superior speed to use. The girl darted around, dealing stabs here and there. Anyone watching would only be able to see a dark blur and frequent flashes of blue light as Sword Skills were activated one after another. A grey shape flitted around beside her, clawing at anything that got too close. But still, their abilities were limited, and it was inevitable that she was going to make a mistake sometime. It came sooner than expected too, under the worst circumstances. She'd hesitated after a one-second cool down. Her legs had frozen for a second too long. Whiskers had been preoccupied, too far away to help. She could only bring her arms up in an attempt to shield herself. The attackers slammed into her mercilessly, causing a painful gasp to escape her lips as she crashed into the wall on the far side. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her HP bar become a dangerous shade of orangey red. One more attack like that, and she would be dead. Funny how circumstances change. Whiskers whimpered as his own health decreased to match hers. In his large state, he'd managed to tear off his opponents head but that only alerted the others. The remaining monsters split up and advanced towards their victims.

Asuna was very worried. Yuuki had disappeared into a different part of the dungeon so she could only hear the sounds of her battle. It didn't sound like it was going very well either. The younger girl had had a larger mob to deal with.

'What to do…' She muttered grimly as she tried to parry the closest creature's attack while leaping to the side. She couldn't die yet. _Wouldn't._ She and Yuuki… They'd promised that they'd make it 'til the end. But the situation right now… Because of her… She could feel the tears building up in her eyes and blinked them away angrily. Her ears picked up a slow rumble and she spun around, expecting a thick pale tail to come flying towards her. It didn't. But what she saw was much, much worse. The wall between her and Yuuki started to shake. And a dully armoured body rose from the layers of sand, causing the ceiling and ground to tremor. Above its head was a purple window with four HP bars.

_**The Steel Megadrile**_

_**Level 39**_

* * *

**AN: O.O Whaaaaat? Where the hell did that come from? I apologise for the shortness. But I haven't updated in more than a month so I really wanted to get it out. Poor Asuna and Yuuki, wonder what's going to happen? Feel free to guess.**

**REVIEW! Please? For the well-being of the two girls? (Evil writer's laugh). So, yeah, please review!**


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